Blood and Peanut Butter
by McSassy37
Summary: Meredith and Derek finally have some time off from the hospital. They plan to spend the day together but when a phone call changes their plans, chaos ensues. MerDer, Meredith centric.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first fic. It's MerDer fluff but more Meredith. More to come so check back. Reviews are appreciated. Oh yeah, and I don't own Grey's.  
**

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As she sluggishly lifted her head away from her pillow and squinted at the clock on her nightstand with sleepy eyes, she couldn't quite make out what it read. The neon red light gleamed towards her, the numbers being a hindrance, slowly blurred into vision revealing 6:12 am.

Meredith groaned in disgust and returned her head to her pillow. Her first day off in… she couldn't even remember when. Why was she awake? She was still tired, she could feel it both physically and mentally. She wasn't ready to wake up. She hardly had any sleep as it was and she wanted more.

Taking a deep breath, she tried desperately to focus on sleeping, but her moderately awake mind shifted to thoughts of the previous few hours. Some late night activities with Derek instantly turned into an all night marathon and she was exhausted.

She nuzzled her head deeper into her pillow and began to reminisce on the night. They had left work later than they expected to and Derek had teasingly kept his arms wrapped tightly around her the whole way through the parking lot, moving very quickly, practically pulling her along. By the time they reached the passenger side door, Derek's hands were trembling with anticipation as he struggled to get the key in the door. Meredith leaned against the side of the car, stared at Derek, and giggled. She knew exactly what was on his mind, as it was on hers, too.

A muffled noise in the distance made her shudder awake. As she sighed in disgust, her thoughts quickly diminished. She shifted slightly in between the sheets and forced herself to try to ignore it and sleep. _Sleep, _she thought, _Just… sleep._

As the sound came again, she shoved her head under the pillow, trying desperately to drown it out.

_Ignore it. Just ignore it. Sleep… _She sighed again. _Sleep… Derek… Derek's lips… Derek's… lips… Derek's lips on me… _Her thoughts of the night before were overpowering and instantly took control once more.

After speeding into the driveway and nearly leaving the keys turned with the ignition running, Meredith and Derek forced their way through the front door and pushed themselves up the stairs to the bedroom, never letting their lips part along the way. As their bodies collided with the bed, they finally let themselves breathe, but only for a moment. As their eyes locked contact, and their lips met once more, together they had made an unspoken agreement to celebrate their "night before their day off" with loud, fanatical, earth shattering, mind-blowing…

Meredith flinched awake once more as the muffled sound came again, much louder than before, piercing any hope of her slumber and sending her annoyance level flying to a high.

She pulled her head out from underneath her pillow and rolled off her stomach onto her side. While she held her eyes forcibly shut, she stretched an arm out in search of Derek.

She felt nothing. Nothing but cold sheets next to her, and a missing body.

Suddenly she felt her eyes jerk open as she became completely aware of the situation. Yawning, she lifted herself and sat up in bed, glancing around the dimly lit room in search of answers.

The brightest light in the room was coming from the bathroom. The door was almost completely shut, with the exception of a slight crack between the door and the frame, letting a small stream of light dance across the bedroom. The sound seemed to be coming from that direction as well.

Meredith's forehead creased as she mused on the situation and the curiosity consumed her. She climbed out of bed and shivered as the cool air of the room hit her naked body. She quickly scrambled to the edge of the bed and pulled on her tank top, which was hanging off the bottom and Derek's boxers, which were on the floor below it. The clothing didn't cover much, but it was a help at least.

The muffled sound started to become louder as she worked her way around the bed towards the bathroom.

The door was not latched, but instead just resting against the doorjamb. She placed her hand against it and pushed it open with only a touch. She peeked in to see Derek sitting on the far end of the tub with his back towards her. A cell phone was pressed against his ear.

Meredith stepped into the bathroom as Derek continued speaking in a soft, hushed tone into the receiver.

Squinting to let her eyes adjust to the new amount of light, she watched as he reached down and grabbed a gray t-shirt that was lying at his feet and tugged it onto his arms, leaving it rest there while he continued his conversation.

"Well, I can't," he said to the mystery person on the phone. "How… maybe… I'd have to check."

_Who is he talking to? It's six in the morning. _Meredith questioned to herself. _The hospital? No. It's his day off. But he is on call. Wait- he has to check what?_

On pondering the very little amount of conversation she heard, Meredith unintentionally leaned into the door, pushing it and creating a rather loud squeaking noise along the way. Her rambling thoughts were quickly put to a stop as Derek, unaware of her presence, jumped up from his post and turned to face her.

_Crap._

He was dressed in jeans and his t-shirt was still tugging at his arms. Holding the phone to his ear, his eyes met with Meredith's.

"Hey," Derek spoke into his cell phone. "Let me call you back. Alright- bye." He closed his phone and signed.

"Good morning," he said to Meredith as he pulled his shirt the rest of the way on.

"Was that the hospital?" Meredith inquired, hoping she knew the answer already.

"No," Derek replied as his head was freed from the neck of the shirt.

_No? So he wasn't called in… _She sighed in relief. _Good. Wait- then who…? _She glanced down at the floor, puzzled, as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry if I woke you. I was trying to be quiet."

She picked her head up to see him staring and smiling at her. As she met his gazing eyes, she couldn't help but smile herself. She shuffled towards him and giggled as he wrapped his arms around her. She followed suit, then rested her head against his chest.

"You didn't wake me," she assured him. "My intern clock did. Or at least I think it was that. You did however keep me from returning to my fantastic dream."

"I'm sorry." Derek apologized.

"It's okay," she said tightening her arms around his waist. "I like the reality better."

"Mmmmm," he grinned breathing her in. "Me too."

"Who was on the phone?" Meredith asked after a few moments. "And why are you dressed, it's six in the morning? Six in the morning on our day off mind you,"

Derek chuckled lightly as he rubbed her back in their embrace.

"It was Kathy."

_Kathy?_

"Your sister?" she asked looking up at him.

"Yeah," he replied nodding. "She called about twenty minutes ago."

"Is everything alright? Isn't it like really early there, too?"

Derek smiled at her, grateful that she was showing concern for his family. "Everything is fine."

"Good, 'cause that would suck if not," Meredith said, smiling as an afterthought.

"She's actually in town for a convention, so she's on Seattle time right now," he added.

"A convention? Like… a therapist convention?"

"Yes, a therapist convention," he chuckled.

"They have them?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "She didn't invite us, did she? That's not why she called?" Her face shifted to a worried look.

He couldn't help but just stare at her shaking his head and grinning. Thinking about all the possible images her mind was probably coming up with of the two of them at one of his sister's conventions. It was amusing. He loved his sister, but he wouldn't be caught dead at one of her conventions.

"No," he snickered. "But nice to know you'd be all willing to go."

Meredith's expression turned into a half smile as she giggled at the though. She then pulled away from him, grabbed his hand, and began tugging him out of the bathroom.

"Come on. Sun's too bright. Let's go back to bed," she said pulling him into the bedroom.

"Mer, I can't go back to sleep," he stated as she sat down on the bed, tugging him towards her. "Kathy called -"

"I know, you told me," she said cutting him off. "And who said anything about sleep," she added with a grin.

He stared at her slightly taken aback by her forwardness. As he too remembered the previous night, the smile on his face began to grow. He was exhausted, but he would take her in a minute. But they needed to talk. For as much as he wanted her, he forced the memories into the back of his mind and focused once more into the eyes of his beautiful girlfriend.

"Meredith," he started, his smile slightly diminishing. "Kathy, she… she's kind of in a bind."

"How so?" Meredith questioned with more serious expression.

"Here husband Dave had to go out of the country on business, London, last minute thing" he shook his head. " He left Connecticut a few hours before Kathy…"

He paused his rambling. He was trying to stall and she knew it.

"And…" she continued for him.

"And the kids," he responded.

Meredith did not like where this was going.

"AND?" she asked while standing to her feet.

She was adorable when she got angry. Derek just stared at her, a slight smile returning to his face. He loved the way she looked, standing there, glaring up at him, waiting for his response. It took everything inside of him not to jump her right then and there and forget the conversation he just had with his sister. But he knew his thoughts would be short lived. He had to tell her.

"She… she asked if we would baby-sit."

Meredith's eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

_Crap. _

"Just for today," he quickly added, trying to remedy the situation.

She broke her stare with Derek and moved her gaping mouth, trying to form words, words of any kind, but nothing would come out. She was stunned. She didn't do kids. Kids didn't do her.

"Meredith," he titled his head to the side and slowed his voice. "I never gave her an answer. I told her I had to talk to you first. I know it's our day off. I know we had… other plans," he said flashing her his famous McDreamy smile. " I know that children are not exactly your thing. But she's my sister."

She faced him once more and locked her eyes with his.

Derek could see the fear her eyes held in them. He had expected her to storm out, or yell, or even possibly kick him. He braced himself for that. He never expected to see the doubt of faith in her eyes.

"Mer," he said, cupping her face into his palm. "We don't have to. I can… I can tell her something- make up an excuse."

He wasn't entirely sure of the reason for her hesitation. He knew she wasn't exactly a kid person, but he just assumed it was only because she never really had the opportunity to be around them. But the look on her face. The look in her eyes. It all said so, so, much more. He didn't want to press her on it and he sure as hell didn't want to push the situation either.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I'll call Kathy back."

Meredith still hadn't said a word. She just looked… lost. Deep in thought. Deep in question. She didn't even notice Derek pull away until the click of the doorknob turning snapped her out of her trance.

"No," she said quietly, still facing away.

_One day. _

"What?" Derek questioned, unsure if he actually heard her speak.

"No. Derek, wait," she said louder, turning on her feet. "Um… It's. It's alright," she nodded.

_It's just one day._

Derek looked at her puzzled. Her expression remained the same, but she was… agreeing. Now he was sure he had misheard her. And all he could do was stare.

"Derek."

He didn't respond.

"Derek?"

Nothing.

"Yeah." He shook his head, breaking his stare. "I'm sorry, I thought I just heard you say alright."

"I did."

He rubbed his eyes. "To the kids coming here."

"Yeah. I did."

"Baby-sitting. Children," he replied stunned.

Meredith crossed her arms and shifted her weight. "DEREK."

"You're sure?" he questioned.

_No. _

"Yeah. I mean… it's only for a day. Right? We… I… can handle it," she said trying to convince herself more than anything. "I can."

Meredith looked down at her feet and sighed.

"Meredith," he sighed in return.

She looked up at him. "I'm fine," she said, forcing a smile.

Derek walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I know that "fine". And I also know what it means."

"No. I mean it. I'm fine. It's fine."

She looked into his deep blue eyes and smiled again, only this time she meant it.

"Now, go call your sister." She padded him on the back and pulled away.

Derek chuckled, pecked her quick on the lips, and headed towards the door. All in one continuous motion, he turned back towards her and kissed her hard and deep. As she let out a soft moan, he slowly pulled away, his whole face beaming. Meredith shook her head, a small grin of her own showing through. He kissed her once more and moved towards the exit yet again. Leaving Meredith giggling behind him.

"Hey, Derek," she called after him.

He stopped in the doorway and faced her.

"Is Kathy…"

Derek tilted his head to the side. "What…" he continued for her.

"Is she anything like Nancy?" Meredith asked, concern in her voice.

He shook his head and smiled. "No." he stated. "She's the nice one."

Derek watched the visible tension Meredith held drop as she relaxed her shoulders, thankful for the answer he just gave her. He looked her up and down, and then continued.

"You may want to rethink the outfit, though," he said winking at her, then turning his back and leaving into the hall before he could get a reaction.

Meredith's jaw dropped. "Hey!" she called after him and rushing through the doorway as well.

Derek, who was a few feet ahead, turned backwards and stopped walking.

"Kathy is a pretty easy-going person, but I'm not so sure how she'd feel about her kids seeing their uncle's girlfriend walking around in his underwear."

She rolled her eyes at his response and leaned against the doorframe.

"Don't get me wrong," he continued. "I love it. Less clothing I say."

She laughed at him. "Ass!"

He laughed as well.

"I'm taking a shower anyway so don't worry. Clothing will be added."

Derek pouted for a moment. "Well. A challenge for tonight then, huh?"

"Oh no, mister." She moved across the hall to the bathroom. "You had your chance. About 10 minutes ago, remember?"

He smiled at her and started walking backwards down the hall. "We'll see about that later then."

He winked once more and she smiled in return. Derek then turned forward, headed for the stairway as Meredith walked into the bathroom to start her shower.

She closed the door behind her, then turned on the shower to let it warm up a bit. She closed the sliding glass door and leaned up against it, the smile slowly fading away from her face.

She sighed.

"What did I get myself into?" she asked herself.

She slowly slid the shower door until she was sitting on the floor against it. Her mind raced with everything that just happened. Everything Derek said. Everything he offered. He gave her an out. He flat out told her she didn't have to. But still… she agreed. She told him it was alright. That it was fine. That she was fine. She couldn't turn back now. It would devastate him. She knew how much he loved his family. How much he has missed not being around them.

She could do it. She _would_ do it. For Derek.

"I can do it." She nodded to herself.

She sighed again.

_Crap. _


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: First off, thanks for the reviews. I really do appreciate them. They make me happy. lol. So here is part two, I hope you enjoy it.  
**

**Cheers.  
**

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Meredith didn't exactly know how long she had been sitting on the bathroom floor, but as the steam from the shower started to evaporate and the room cleared up, reality struck her. 

As she quickly got to her feet, undressed, and stepped into the now lukewarm water of the shower, she let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Meredith closed her eyes and stood under the water spigot, letting it flow down her body and absorb into her hair.

She stood unmoving for a few moments, sighed deeply, and grabbed the shampoo bottle. She knew very well that she had already wasted enough time dwelling on the situation that was inevitable anyway. She had to be quick. Take her shower. Get dressed. Get ready for the day. Ready for the kids.

Closing her eyes tight, she thought to herself, _I could do it. _Meredith then pushed the dread of the day to the back of her mind and continued on with her shower, hoping to cleanse her mind as well as her body.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Derek sat at the center island with the morning paper in one hand and a steaming cup of coffee in the other. He had already finished his breakfast, loaded the dishwasher with the left over dishes that sat in the sink, and picked up a bit in the living room to prepare for his kin.

When he first left Meredith, he bounced down the stairs with the hugest smile on his face. She had agreed to baby-sit. Baby-sit his family. Spending their time off with children and, in a sense, play house for the day. He was so thrilled that he almost told her it would make good practice for when they have children someday. He wanted to say those words to her so desperately, but he knew better. She was scared enough as it was. Just from the look in her eyes, he could tell. He knew she gave in, but he also knew it was most definitely on the borderline of one way or the other. At the moment, though, he didn't care. He loved his family and missed them a lot. They meant a lot to him. Her giving in meant a lot to him.

Derek sipped his coffee. He let the warmth of it slide down his throat as he tried to focus his attention on the article he was reading. When he reread the same line for what felt like the hundredth time, he gave up and set the newspaper down on the island. He really couldn't focus on much of anything at the moment.

He picked up his cell phone to make sure there were no missed calls or voicemails. He would admit he was excited. A bit anxious, for Meredith, but excited. When he had called Kathy back, he had given her the OK and provided her with the directions from the hotel to the house. Kathy ended the conversation with her giving him an ETA of twenty minutes and throwing a "thanks" in there somewhere. With that, Derek had quickly hung up his phone and poured his cereal, scarfed it down within seconds, then ran around like a madman, finishing everything in under ten minutes.

Now he sat staring at his cell phone. Waiting.

After realizing only a minute had gone by since the last time he checked, he replaced the phone on the surface in front of him and tapped his fingers anxiously on top of the newspaper. Leaning back against the chair, he sighed. He then laughed at himself for acting the way he was. As he picked up his coffee cup, he noticed it was almost empty.

"Right," he laughed again.

Deciding it needed to be refilled, he got off his chair and moved to the counter. Surely that would pass a moment or two.

It was when he smelled the delicious brew in his hands that he realized Meredith had not come downstairs yet. Derek grabbed another mug from the cabinet, a white one with Hello Kitty on it, poured the coffee and added the bit of milk and sugar he knew she liked.

Derek took a sip of his own, gripped the one for Meredith in his empty hand and turned around to leave the kitchen so he could meet her upstairs with her treat.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Derek stopped in his tracks as the startling sound made him spill a bit of the newly full mugs of coffee on the floor.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself. He placed the drinks back on the counter and grabbed the nearest towel to clean up his mess. After quickly wiping it up and putting coffee covered towel in the sink, the doorbell rang again.

Derek took a final sip from his mug and made his way out of the kitchen to answer the door.

The small clumsy event that just took place made him momentarily forget about his sister and her kids and the fact that the doorbell ringing would be an indication to their arrival.

As Derek entered the hall, his eyes looked on to see a dark haired women standing on the porch outside the glass door.

Derek picked up his pace and rushed over to answer the door. He turned the knob and swiftly opened it with a smile streaming across his face.

He sighed happily. "Kathy."

"Hey stranger," Kathy smiled in return. "Sorry, I know we're a bit early."

Derek shook his head as he outstretched an arm and pulled his sister into a tight hug. "Not a problem," he said in their embrace. "It's really good to see you."

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" she added.

With that, Derek pulled away and moved for her to come inside. "Too long."

Kathy raised her eyebrow at him as she walked over the threshold. "And whose fault is that? The one missed Thanksgiving or the one who missed Christmas? Oh wait," she chuckled sarcastically. "That was you."

"Very funny," he scoffed. "Since when has it been impossible for you to come visit me?"

He folded his arms and frowned at her, his expression changing to a serious, yet playful one.

"Dave was here six months ago. And he brought the baby. Where were you?" he raised his chin at her.

Kathy sighed in defeat. "Touché."

As the grin slowly started to return to his face, Derek pulled her into another hug.

"I've really missed you, Derek," Kathy said into her arm that was clutched around his neck. "I know this was last minute and all. I really appreciate you doing this."

Derek once again removed himself from their hug. "Kathy, I love your kids," he said more seriously. "This is as much a favor for you as it is for me."

Kathy gleamed at him happily. What had to done to deserve such a wonderful, lovable brother?

In an instant, his mien shifted. He wrinkled his brow and asked, "Where are the kids?"

At his sudden forwardness in the change of question, Kathy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, um, they are in the car," she responded, nodding her head ever so slightly.

"You left them in the car?" he prodded, his manner remaining the same. "Even Leah?"

"Relax, Der. She's asleep. And she's ten feet away," she derided him.

"But. Why?"

Kathy locked her eyes to the floor, saying nothing.

Derek gazed at her, trying to figure out what she was hiding. He fixed his mind and tried to read her face. Tried to get something from her. Not bringing in the kids? Why would she do that? He shifted slightly to try to see her eyes. Try to read her eyes.

Then it hit him.

"You wanted to meet her first?"

Kathy modestly lifted her eyes, keeping her head down.

He knew he was right.

Derek shifted his weight and titled his head. "You wanted to meet her first," he repeated as a statement.

Kathy picked up her head, but looked past him. She tried to form the right words to explain to him, moving her mouth, yet nothing came out.

"It's…" she started. "It's not that I don't trust you. Or lack faith in your judgment. I just…" Kathy paused and took a deep breath, trying to regain her poise. "I have never doubted you. With anything. Ever," she paused again.

"But." Derek persisted.

Kathy sighed. "After Nancy's little visit, she just made it sound like… like you… had a hiccup. In that department. Maybe a laps of… common sense?"

"Kathy, you don't even know her any you're already judging her," he said, the anger building slightly. "And from what? The fragment of information Nancy brought home with her? The… whole five minutes she spent in the same room as Meredith?"

"Derek. Slow down." Kathy jumped in, placing her palms against his chest. "I just wanted to meet her before the kids did. I didn't want to force the whole motley crew on her at once."

Derek took a deep breath, ran his hand through his hair, and sighed. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

Kathy sighed as well, feeling the tension and heat of the conversation lift from the room. She nodded in acceptance.

After a few moments of silence Kathy added, "I do trust you, Der. I trust your decisions."

"Thank you." He replied, and then looked away for a moment. "What exactly did Nancy say about her anyway?"

Taken back that he stayed on the topic of their sister, Kathy scratched her head in a pondering notion. She tried to recompose her thoughts and choose her wording very carefully, not wanting to throw him over the edge even more.

"Well," she cleared her throat. "Nancy had said that she was… a bit young. For you." She saw that Derek was about to disagree, but before he could, she continued. " Age doesn't matter, Derek, I know that. Nancy knows that. She's just looking to nit-pick on her."

Derek nodded, remaining silent. Kathy continued, knowing he was looking for more.

"She also mentioned that she seemed a bit cold. And dramatic," she braced herself for the next part. "And a bit slutty."

After Derek had almost just bit her head off, she expected his reaction to the new information to cause him to be even more angry. Raise his voice. Again. Instead… the most miraculous thing happened. He was smiling. Well, not exactly smiling, but it was on the verge of becoming one. She held her breath, though, assuming it was just the calm before the storm. Kathy looked into his eyes as she waited for him to blow.

But. Nothing.

He did nothing. Didn't yell. Didn't freak out on her. Didn't complain about Nancy.

Nothing.

He just stared back at his sister, the smile now becoming more evident.

"Derek?" Before she could get another word in, he spoke.

"She's not cold," he said ever so calmly. "She's kind. And caring. She cares for her friends and her patients. She is anything but cold. Dramatic, yes," he laughed to himself. "But not cold.

Kathy could not help but to smile herself. She had never seen her brother act like this over anyone. No one.

"And she is not slutty," Derek added, shaking his head. "She's just… She's Meredith."

Kathy nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. He loved her.

As if on cue, Meredith came tumbling down the stirs, not bothering to look anywhere but down, watching her step.

"Derek, have you seen-"

She stopped mid-sentence when she reached the bottom and was face to face with a new She-Shepherd.

"My pants," she finished.

_Crap._

Kathy looked her up and down. Standing in front of her was this tiny blonde whose hair was untamed and wore nothing but a fitted t-shirt and a pair of boy-cut underwear. She did everything in her power to hold back the smirk that was creeping its way onto her face.

Meredith sucked in a breath. _Oh. Excellent. _

Then the rambling started.

"Not that I lost them. Or left them. Anywhere. Looking... for clean ones. My clean ones. Laundry ones... because the... laundry... did the pants. That are now clean. Okay... there-"

"Laundry room, Mer," Derek cut her off with the obvious answer she needed. He smiled and winked at her.

Meredith opened her mouth to say something. Closed it and grinned. "I'm. Meredith," she stated frankly.

"Okay," Kathy replied, concentrating more on the smirk she was trying to hide rather then what Meredith was actually saying.

Meredith lifted her hand in an attempt to wave, then quickly turned around and walked very briskly towards the location of her pants, silently cursing herself along the way.

"Fantastic," she said to herself when she turned the corner in the kitchen.

Derek tried to regain his composure, a look of wonder took over his features as he turned back to face his sister.

"You were saying?" Kathy inquired, the smirk breaking through.

"_Okay…_" Derek responded, dragging out the word in a mocking tone.

She shrugged. "I was caught off guard."

"She's not slutty," he protested, a little too quickly.

"Right," she challenged in a mocking tone of her own.

And then they laughed. Laughed about… Everything. Meredith's perfect timing. The fact that they missed each other a great deal. How much Kathy knew she already liked Meredith… and that she owed Nancy fifty bucks.

"Mommy…" a small voice came from behind them.

As their laughing subsided, Kathy turned around as Derek stepped to the side of her. They peered through the storm door to see one of the kids, her daughter, standing outside.

"Leah was crying for you," the young girl continued, acknowledging the baby she had gripped in her arms.

"Oh!" Kathy gasped as her eyes widened. She anxiously opened the door for her daughters. As they entered, she grabbed Leah, who seemed rather calm and content for supposedly had just been crying.

"Beth!" Derek happily called out to the young girl as he got down to her level and extending his arms in anticipation of an oncoming hug.

"Uncle Derek?!" Beth's jaw dropped in shock as she ran to meet his open arms.

Derek lifted Beth into the air, hugged her, and continued to hold her tightly for a few moments.

"You didn't tell them they were coming to see me?" he questioned.

Kathy shifted her weight to accommodate Leah. "I did. They just didn't believe me," she teased, grinning.

"Aunt Nancy said you'd gone mental and you live in… Seattle now," Beth said, making sure she pronounced the city correctly and ignoring the statement she made about her aunt.

"Oh really?" Derek chuckled lightly, kissed his niece on the forehead, and placed her back on the floor. He looked at Kathy, who just shrugged in return, still grinning, enjoying what she was putting her brother through.

Beth leaned her back against Derek's legs and locked her tiny hands into his. She began swaying back and forth, tugging Derek's arms as she played.

"Well, your Aunt Nancy should be expecting a very heartfelt conversation soon." He directed his statement towards Beth, but kept his eyes locked on Kathy.

His tone was flat, but she could tell he wasn't really upset. They both knew how Nancy was.

"Are we stayin' with you today, Uncle Derek?" Beth asked, leaning her head back to look up at him.

Derek nodded. "Yep."

"Yay!" she cheered in return.

Leah, who had been resting her head against her mother, shot up quickly with the brightest smile on her face and raised her arms in the air, as if she knew what was going on and not simply reacting to the familiar sound of her sister's ecstatic voice.

They all laughed.

"I guess it's unanimous, then," Derek said, grinning.

Kathy nodded in agreement. "Alright. Beth, why don't you and I go get your things and get the crew rounded up so I can get out of here."

"Kathy, I can go get them," he volunteered.

"No, it's fine," she responded. "It has been a pretty decent amount of time since I left them. Who knows what the car looks like by now. You can, however, take Leah for me." Kathy forced the baby into his arms before he had a chance to even accept.

Derek hugged Leah tightly and walked over to open the door for his sister and niece. When they headed down the walk towards their car, he turned his attention to the happy child in his arms.

"So… How've you been?" he teased.

Leah, who was chewing on one of her fingers, scrunched up her nose and smiled as she let out a small giggle at him.

"Right," he laughed. "Why don't we go check on your Aunt Meredith, huh?"

Leah just looked on, not really having a choice in the matter.

Derek turned around and headed for the kitchen. "Do me a favor?" he whispered in the baby's ear. "Don't tell her I called her that?"

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**Thanks so much for reading. Again, reviews are appreciated.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay. To avoid confusion ahead of time, this chapter is set the same as the last one. The difference is it's from Meredith's perspective. It does, however, continue on into the story. Thanks to all for the reviews!**

**Enjoy!  
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Meredith was in a daze.

After she finished her shower, she had wrapped herself up in an oversized towel, and made her way back into her bedroom.

Upon entering, she discarded her towel onto the floor and threw on her robe. She unthinkingly made the bed, then moved into her private bathroom to finish getting ready.

She currently stood with her head flipped over as she ran the blow-dryer back and forth across her wet hair.

Her mind wasn't blank. It wasn't suppressing the situation. It was just… There. With her. Making her do all the usual Meredith things. Something was different, though. Something about her felt different. She was… Calm. Relaxed. Tranquil.

She flipped her head upright and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

And then it happened.

She smiled.

She had no idea where it came from. She wasn't elated from the circumstances by any means, but she felt… somewhat pleased. She had agreed. Agreed to babysit. With Derek. And she was determined to make the best out of it. Nothing was going to bring her down. No one was going to make her feel bad about it. Not even herself.

The sudden echo of a noise distracted her, breaking her stare. She looked back toward the bathroom door, which she had left open behind her, and turned off the dryer.

Nothing.

Deciding to ignore it, she turned the blow-dryer back on. As she spun her head back to continue, she avoided the mirror.

_I want to do this_. The thought repeated in her mind.

Sighing deeply, she kept her eyes locked on the floor and went on drying her hair. A few moments later, the noise interrupted her again.

"Derek?" she called out as she leaned against the doorjamb of the bathroom.

Nothing.

Her bedroom was empty. Just as she left it only minutes before.

She tilted her head back into the bathroom. As she saw herself in the mirror once again, she frowned.

Apparently her blow-dryer sucked.

Her hair wasn't even remotely dry and the wavy texture of it was beginning to show. She shrugged softly. "Good enough," she mumbled as she turned away.

Meredith covered her mouth as she yawned and shambled over to her closet, deciding it was probably a good idea to finish getting ready.

She pulled open the door of her wardrobe and grabbed the first t-shirt she saw inside. It was black. Plain and simple. Perfect for a day like today. She clenched it in a fist and pushed the door closed a bit too hard. It slammed shut, creating a loud thump and a slight breeze.

From the corner of her eye, she saw something had fallen from her standing mirror next to her. She leaned over towards the ground and picked up a loose picture.

Not bothering to hide the grin that grew on her face, she gazed down at it, remembering the very moment the shutter had snapped.

It was a recent one of her and Derek that he had taken with a stupid disposable camera she found while cleaning.

Okay. Izzie found it cleaning and passed it on to the duo.

Derek had snatched it and finished off the roll before Meredith even had a chance to react.

The camera flashed and the wheel was cranked, resulting in the final product she held in her hand- A self-portrait of Derek kissing her on the cheek while her head was bent down reading a magazine, not realizing her photo was being taken.

Meredith smiled, remembering the chase that followed as she tried to retrieve the camera from Derek while screaming something about a death wish.

She stared at it a few moments more, and then tacked it back into the side of her mirror, just where Derek had originally put it. It was a good memory. She liked good memories. For her, they didn't come around too often, so when they did, she would do anything to hold on to them.

Even let Derek keep an awful picture of her.

Maybe today would be okay. Maybe it would be a good memory day.

Maybe.

She wanted today to be good. She also knew that Derek would do everything anyway. She would just be there to lend him a hand if he needed it. Not really sure what she would do if he did need it. But she would try.

She loved him enough to try.

Her smile faded. But only slightly.

_Good_. _Think good. _

She exhaled. As she walked over to her dresser, she opened the bottom drawer to get out her jeans. She pulled out a pair of sweatpants. Two. Three. Four pairs. Where were her jeans? Shorts. More shorts. A small pile started to form next to her on the floor.

Meredith shoved the drawer closed and pulled open the middle one. More sweatpants. Sweatshirts. Running clothes. Scrubs.

"God. Is this all I wear?" she uttered to herself.

Not even bothering to close the drawer, she pulled the top one open. Underwear. Bras. No jeans.

"When are my pants?" she said getting frustrated and placing her hands on her hips.

She shifted and almost all at once opened the three drawers parallel to the others.

Derek's clothes.

Derek's clothes.

More sweatpants.

"What. The hell." She was already getting overwhelmed.

She ran her hands through her hair, contemplating where her pants could be.

Meredith dashed over to the chair in the corner of her room. She grabbed the pile of clothes that had been tossed on to it and started sifting through them. Two shirts. Khakis. Bra. Derek's pants. No jeans.

She thought about checking under the bed. Then decided against it realizing that was stupid. The problem was she just couldn't think straight.

She sighed, trying to force herself to think.

Closet. _Duh_.

She moved to the other side of the room and once again opened her wardrobe. One by one she tugged the hangers looking for her pants. Shirt after shirt went bye. Jackets. A sweater or two. Skirts. Her dress from prom (the only one she owned). Then she found some pants. But not her jeans. Corduroys. Brown ones. Tan ones. Black ones. Dress pants. Nothing that she could wear to hang out with kids all day. She wanted her jeans.

She closed the door and leaned up against it. Where were all her jeans? She had a ton of them. Evidently not as many pairs as sweatpants, but she at least had six of them. That much she knew. How could she not find any? Practically, that's all she wore.

Then it hit her.

Meredith rushed back into her bathroom and lifted the lid to her hamper.

Empty.

_Did Derek do the wash?_ she thought. _Or Izzie…? Maybe? Hopefully…_

She quickly reentered her bedroom and got dressed into what she could. All she was missing were her pants. If Derek did the wash, he could tell her where they were. He would know. Hopefully.

She didn't bother with putting on a pair of pseudo pants; instead she immediately rushed out of her room. What did she care? It was just Derek and her in the house and he had seen a lot less on her before. She was on a mission now.

Meredith frantically rushed down the hall to go find Derek. Her mind continued to scrutinize on other places her pants could be if Derek didn't know.

_Somewhere else downstairs? Maybe Izzie took them by mistake? I bet they are under the bed. _

As she reached the landing, Derek's voice broke though over her thoughts. But she didn't hear him. She was in her own world and her mind continued to race on.

She descended down the staircase. Step by step. One by one.

_Should I check her closet? _Step.

_Wait… living room? _Step.

_Maybe… _

Step.

She heard him again.

"Derek, have you seen-"

As her foot hit the base, her eyes fused with others. But not Derek's.

"My pants."

_Crap. _

Surprised as hell, she stood before Kathy. Feeling a bit underdressed and a lot overexposed next to the attire Kathy presented herself in. She wore a dark tweed pencil skirt with matching blazer and heels that made her legs look 400 miles long. Her long dark hair was tired half back, letting the slight curl it had drape around her shoulders. She looked smart. Professional. Elegant. Pretty much the exact opposite of how Meredith felt. And no doubt she was being judged. Seriously, how could she not be? She was damp, half-naked, and now… Now she was rambling.

Something about her pants. Losing them? Or leaving them? She really had no idea what she was saying. All she wanted was to not be there. In front of Kathy. Defending her pants. So she rambled. She rambled until Derek stopped her.

"Laundry room, Mer."

_I knew that… I think I knew that… _

She introduced herself, trying to at least be polite, given the situation and all.

"Okay," Kathy responded. Meredith could see her lips beginning to curl.

She had to get out of there. She raised a hand, her attempt at waving, then departed as quickly as she could before anything else could be said.

_Run. Now. _

Her speed heightened as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. "Fantastic."

Meredith didn't stop moving until she was in the laundry room with a death grip on the washing machine, holding herself up from the puddle of embarrassment she knew would become of her if she were to let go. She couldn't let this get to her. Not now. Not ever, really. Nancy was one thing. But Kathy… Kathy was supposed to be the good one, right? She wouldn't care about this?

She loosened her grip, now just using the machine for balance. Nothing was going to bring her down.

She sighed. "Okay," she muttered to herself, trying to keep calm. "Okay, I came in here for a reason. Pants. Where are you?" Meredith released her hold completely and backed away from the washer. She started roaming around the laundry room, now determined. Suddenly, the heal of her foot bumped into something. She stopped and turned around. Two baskets of folded clothes sat on the floor behind her.

Then she saw it.

Sticking out from the side of one was a little bit of denim. She bent down and reached her hands into the clean, neat pile and tugged the material. When it didn't come as easily as she hoped, Meredith moved the laundry that was trapping it into the other basket. When she looked again, a sigh of relief overcame her. Yep. There were her jeans. All six pairs. Washed. Folded. Stacked nicely in a little pile just waiting to be worn again. She grabbed the top pair and stood to her feet, hugging the pants tight against her body. She had never been so happy to find an article of clothing in her life.

With her prize in hand, she headed towards the exit. She stopped herself mid-stride when she realized what she was actually doing. Then cringed at the thought. That had actually happened. It wasn't in her head. She wasn't having one of those dreams where you end up standing in front of the class in your underwear. No. To her, that only happened in the real world. In front of her boyfriend's sister, which whom she only wanted to impress. Well… she did make an impression, to say the least.

Yeah, that had actually happened and no way was she going to go through that again.

She slipped into her pants, making sure to secure the zipper and every button along the way. She wasn't taking any chances this time. When she knew for sure everything was good and she had nothing left to prolong her absence, she sighed heavily.

"All right." _Let's get this over with. _

Meredith stepped back into the kitchen. Savoring the aloneness while she could. She knew Kathy would say something about it. Maybe not flat out be all, "Oh, you lost your pants", but if her bloodline ran the same as Nancy's, she would weasel it in at some point.

As she got closer to the kitchen door, she heard a voice she didn't recognize. It was a small voice. Very girly. Very bubbly.

She rested her palm against the doorframe and peeked into the foyer to see Kathy balancing a baby on her hip. Meredith found herself dumbfounded. She would never have been able to picture her like that, had she not see it with her own eyes. Kathy just didn't appear to be the mothering type. Especially not in those heels. Her eyes roamed a bit lower to see another child a few years older amusing herself by tangling her arms into Derek's. Undoubtedly, that was the voice she had heard.

Meredith sucked in a breath and turned, flinging her body against the wall entirely out of eyesight.

_Crap. I can't do this. _

Her lack of pants didn't seem much like an issue to her anymore.

She positioned her hands by her sides, bracing herself against the wall, and tried to blink away the fear. There was no way out of this. She couldn't tell Derek she changed her mind. They were already there. Maybe she could leave, though? Sneak off at some point and not come back until much, much, later. She didn't _have_ to be there.

Meredith rolled her eyes at herself. She was being pathetic. And immature. And dramatic. Not to mention selfish. What was she going to do? Leave Derek to hand two little girls while she ran off to hide somewhere? No. She had to suck it up. She told him she would be there. So she would. She could do the kid thing.

For a day.

She pushed the hair out of her face and tried to prepare herself to go back out there. That is until she saw a light steam coming from her Hello Kitty mug on the counter across the room.

She sighed happily. _Thank. God. _Something else for her to detain her existence from the other room. The other room with the children. With Kathy.

She strolled over to the counter, making sure to take her time. Why should she rush? She wasn't really in a hurry and it's not like they expected her to come right back in a flash. For all they knew, she was still looking for her pants. Besides, it was just coffee. It's not like she was hiding out in there. Not on purpose anyway. They knew where she went. It was perfectly logical for her to stop and take a few minutes to have a cup of coffee. It _was_ just coffee. She always had a cup in the morning. Was it her fault that she didn't get a chance to drink it before they showed up?

Meredith was about to pour the sugar into her mug, but stopped when she saw that it had already been done. It was just sitting there. Waiting for her. And she knew that it was Derek who did it.

She took a sip and smiled. It was perfect. Exactly how she liked it. She found it amazing how well he knew her sometimes. Sure it was just coffee. But to her it was more. No one ever knew how she took her coffee before. No one ever cared enough to know. And no one sure as hell knew her favorite mug had Hello Kitty printed on it.

But Derek knew her.

He knew what her "fine" really meant. He knew she didn't really want to babysit, that she was scared to. And she was pretty sure he knew she was still in the kitchen out of avoidance rather than just looking for her pants.

She put down the mug and stared deep into the hazel colored liquid. As she settled her elbows on the counter, Meredith jerked her head into the palms of her hands and sighed in disgust. This was getting ridiculous. It hadn't even been long enough for her to try to attempt anything and her emotions were already all over the place. She didn't even know how she felt. She knew was nervous about babysitting, but she wanted to be there for Derek. He never asked her for much. He didn't even force her into it. But she knew, deep down, he would have been heartbroken had she refused.

Babysitting. Was it really that big of a deal? People did it all the time. Meredith never did before. She never had the opportunity to do so. But still… It was just babysitting. Couldn't be that hard, right? If thirteen-year-old girls could willingly do it for extra cash, she could do it.

In an Instant, she knew how she truly felt. Foolish. She was getting so worked up over something that was nothing. She was so flustered, her heart was almost bursting through her rib cage and she couldn't focus on what was actually important.

So she stared into her coffee. At least it was calm there.

"Mer?"

She knew it was Derek who called her name, but she didn't bother turning around. She was aware of his presence, but the calmness and still of the coffee pulled her in. She didn't want to leave it so soon.

"Meredith?" he attempted again. "What are you doing?"

Before responding, she took several deep breaths to try and keep from breaking down completely and getting upset. It was pointless to do so. Giving in to it would only make things worse and she knew it. But she could feel his eyes on her. She could sense the smile pulling softly at his lips. And she could hear him moving closer every moment.

She let out a heavy breath. "Loathing in self-pity."

Derek chuckled softly, trying to keep the mood light. He knew she wasn't too happy about what had happened. It's certainly not the day they had planed originally, but he still wanted it to be decent for her. Try to make the best out of it, at least.

"Meredith."

She picked up her head and looked past him. "I'm fine."

He smirked at her. "Yeah, you're fine," he mocked.

Meredith met his eyes, astounded that he would challenge her. He would ask what's wrong and she would say she's fine. That's how it worked. That's how it always worked. They both knew she was lying every time. Sometimes he would press her on it. Other times they just let it go. But he never teased her about it. Not like this. And it actually… It actually made her smile a little.

Yeah, he knew her.

"All right. I'm not fine," she started. "But I will be."

Leah also had her eyes locked on Meredith. She gurgled in Derek's arms, letting them both know she was there.

"And who is this?" Meredith asked in the friendliest upbeat tone she possibly could.

She changed the subject. And for now, just for now, he would let her. Derek did know she was hiding out to avoid Kathy, but he also knew her confidence about being with kids was incredibly low, and that had a lot to do with her absence as well. He had to get her confidence up. He was intent on making her swoon over the children before the day was done. He just wasn't sure how yet. And until he did, he would let her "fine" slide.

"This. Is Leah," he said lifting her a bit higher to face Meredith.

Leah just stared on. Examining Meredith. Absorbing everything about her she possibly could.

Meredith did the same in return. She assumed the baby looked more like her father. She didn't really resemble Kathy, and Kathy resembled Derek. So she assumed Leah had more of her father's genes than her mother's. With her shaggy blonde hair and dark brown eyes, she was practically a contradiction of Derek's family. But an incredibly cute one.

"She's adorable." Meredith said faintly, not taking her eyes off of her. Then the grin broke through.

Derek was gushing on the inside. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to change Meredith's mind after all. "You want to hold her?"

Then again, maybe not.

Meredith froze up and her smile completely dropped. _Me, hold the baby? Is he kidding? I'll probably drop her or something. _

He blew it. "You don't have to, Mer. It was just an offer." It just slipped out. He knew it was too much to quick, but since he asked, he wanted to keep the opportunity open. "If you want to, you can. Whenever you want. Whatever you want."

She slowly nodded her head, acknowledging his invitation. "Okay," she whispered.

"Okay," he repeated, feeling more like an ass than anything.

From the foyer, they head the storm door open and slam shut. A second time. Third.

Meredith looked over his shoulder to the open door of the kitchen. "What's going on?" she questioned.

"Oh, Kathy is just bringing in the kid's things."

The door slammed again and Meredith flinched at the sound. "Jeez, how much stuff do they have?"

Derek just looked on amused. "Oh, you'd be surprised," he chuckled.

"Der?" Kathy called from the other room.

Derek followed the direction of Meredith's eyes, then faced her again.

"Are you ready?"

Meredith looked deep into his eyes. "Do I have a choice?"

"You have to be ready," he shrugged.

She looked back at the open door. This was it. Her last chance to get out of it. But for as scared as she was, as unsure as she was, she knew she would do it.

Her eyes met his once again. She cleared her throat and nodded again. "Okay."

Derek mimicked her nodding and turned to lead the way back. "All right," he reciprocated. "Let's go."

Meredith followed closely behind as she stuck her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. She could be pleased about that if nothing else.

She took a deep breath, trying as hard as hell to believe that by now having pants on would make a world of a difference. "Yeah," she mumbled, "Let's go."

* * *

** Thanks for reading. More to come! Again, reviews are appreciated! **


	4. Chapter 4

"Kathleen Carlyle."

Meredith looked down at the extended hand in front of her and took it into her own. Kathy's hand was cold, but soft. She had long boney fingers that wrapped awkwardly around Meredith's. But, still… It fit.

"Hi," Meredith said every so weakly.

"So. You're the reason my brother has decided to never come home," she stated cattily.

_Here it comes. _Meredith thought.

Derek staying in Seattle, her fault. Derek leaving his wife. Her fault. Derek actually being happy- not possible, right? He came out here to get away. Away from New York. Away from Addison. Away from it all. He couldn't possibly come to a place off a whim and find something to hold on to. Find a reason to stay. Find a way to start over, start a new life. Find love again.

Of course it was Meredith's fault. It had to be. Because Derek wasn't a grown man. He couldn't be held responsible for his actions. It's not like he was the head of neurosurgery who earned two million a year at a prestigious hospital or anything. Oh wait…

She let out a breath, hoping Derek would jump in and save her before Kathy started blaming her for everything that was even remotely wrong in his life. It was the least he could do. However, when she shifted her eyes in his direction, she was almost blinded by the grin that spread across his face.

He was enjoying this.

_Ass._

She looked away from him and fixed her gaze past Kathy. If she looked her in the eyes, she was afraid she might cry. Or bite her head off. Neither of which she really wanted to do. She blinked hard and prepared herself for what was to come, no thanks to Derek. "Yeah," she answered just as weakly as before.

"It's great to finally meet you." Kathy replied rather benevolent. She cupped her other hand around Meredith's and gave it a little squeeze before letting go.

_What. _

Meredith let her arm drop to her side as she stared awestruck at Kathy. Speechless. Kathy was being… nice? To her? She must have misheard her. She had to have. Kathy wasn't supposed to friendly, she was supposed to be like Nancy. Judgmental. Rude. Snide. No matter what Derek had said, Kathy just couldn't be nice. It couldn't be that easy. Meredith had to be missing something.

"Officially. I mean." Kathy said, shaking her head. "Compared to before."

There it was. Pants. Or lack there of. Meredith was right. She knew Kathy would say something about it and it didn't take her long. The whole situation was something so minor that it simply should not have happened at all. Brut it did.

Meredith suddenly found herself silently cursing her blow-dryer, as she realized it was the culprit responsible for her not hearing the doorbell ring. She couldn't change what had happened. It was stupid. And embarrassing. But she decided she wasn't going to let it control the outcome of her current conversation either. It happened. And all she wanted to do was get past it and forget about it. As quickly as she could. Rip off the band-aid. No anesthesia.

_Apologize. Just… apologize, and get it over with, _she thought.

"Yeah, um…" she trailed off her sentence. "Sorry. About. Earlier and all. I, a… didn't know. Derek. He, um, did my laundry. So…"

She was rambling again.

"Don't worry about it," Kathy interrupted. "It's not a big deal."

_What._

Meredith dropped her shoulders.

_What?_

She couldn't be serious…. Could she? No… Yelling? Or mocking? Or laughing at? Nothing? It was hard to believe she was just going to let it go, considering that's exactly what Meredith wanted. What she needed.

"O… kay." Meredith stammered as Kathy's response came as a complete and absolute shock to her.

_WHAT?_

Meredith turned to face Derek, who was now trying to keep his smirk hidden. When she fixed her eyes with his, all he did was wink. He knew it wasn't a big deal. He knew Kathy wouldn't care. However, he could have filled Meredith in on that tiny detail.

_You have GOT to be kidding me. _

As if he read her mind, Derek's smile broke through and he changed the subject. "Kathy, where did you say your convention was at?"

She was off the hook. Free. Just like that, the diversion of a new topic left the previous one of her pants settling in the dust. Meredith turned back to Kathy, who was in mid-conversation with Derek. She told him where the convention was to be held. He asked something else. She answered.

Kathy was totally going along with it, like she didn't care one bit about it.

It was as if the whole thing had never had happened. Perfectly forgotten about. Completely moved on from. Meredith laughed to herself. It was unreal. Her whole morning was nothing but ups and downs. Getting thrown into babysitting, then debating about going through with it. Trying to stay in good spirits for Derek, because he wanted her there with his family, and she knew it. Then having the revelation of meeting Kathy for the first time wearing nothing but her underwear. It was supposed to be her day off and the only thing she had to show for it was a new level of stress. And the day had barely begun. She was eternally grateful at how quickly the whole pants thing diminished. Having something actually go her way, well, that was just the icing on the cake. Hell, it was eating the damn thing.

Meredith sighed in relief. She couldn't help but smile as she heard Derek and Kathy talk about things. Things other than her. She was so pleased about her mishap finally being over with, she wouldn't dare add to the conversation and bring the attention back to herself. So she just stared on, happy to do so. At one point she actually stopped paying attention to what they were saying. Her focus was directed more on the mounds of new objects and parcels that lined the hall where they currently stood.

Derek was right. Kids had a lot of things.

The room was practically overflowing with everything they had brought with them. How had she not noticed it before? Even with her mind fully freaking out, it was still pretty hard to miss. Stuff was everywhere. As a matter of fact, she was surprised she didn't end up tripping over anything. At the bottom of the stairs, a pink suitcase rested against the wall next to a small princess backpack and a stuffed teddy bear. If Derek had moved to his left any further from where he was standing, Meredith was sure he would have been attacked by them. If that didn't do it, then the stroller parked just behind him would have.

The place looked like a tornado had struck it.

Bags, suitcases, gear and gadgets outlined the walls. Almost every inch was covered. She spotted a rather large rectangular box--type-thing that was lying just beyond the stroller. Meredith had no idea what it was, but the side of it read "Pack 'N Play". She shrugged it off thinking it was just another carrying case for toys or something. Kids had toys. And she suspected from all the luggage that these kids had plenty.

She had a lot of toys as a kid. Her mother spoiled her, attempting to make up for never being around. She bought Meredith every toy a kid would want. She probably had ten times the amount of toys than all the other kids she knew, but she never bothered with them. She spent most of her time sitting around at her mother's hospital or being looked after by nannies. She kept to herself. Mostly reading. Or trying to sneak into the gallery to watch surgeries. She was a smart kid. She wanted to learn.

Today. Today kids have to have everything. If there faces weren't glued to a video game, it would be the end of the world.

Meredith sighed, hoping Kathy wasn't the kind of mother who threw things at her kids so she wouldn't have to spend time with them. From the looks of things, Kathy didn't appear to be that way. She handled Leah well and truly looked happy doing the mother thing. She did bring her kids with her to Seattle, granted she had to leave them with sitters, but still… the effort was there.

So were the toys.

Meredith noticed more bags on the opposite wall. Toys spewed everywhere, plunging from case after case. They even sat on top of a small booster seat that sat against the wall. She spotted two more suitcases, a white and pink stripped diaper bag, and a few other odds and ends that, with no doubt in her mind, were all stuffed to the rim with toys. In addition to the massive amount of luggage taking up all the room, numerous amounts princess attire coated the front of everything, making the small room feel even more jam packed and gave off a screaming label to the presence of little girls.

Everything was frilly. And Pink. Lots of pink.

Everywhere.

Except some things were blue.

Dark blue.

Meredith felt a light touch press against her leg. Breaking her wandering gaze from around the room, she looked down to see Leah rubbing her little hand against her jeans, as if she were feeling the material for the first time. When had Derek put her down anyway? How did she not notice? Her whole morning was beginning to feel like a daze. As if she were floating above, just looking in. Catching little things here and there. She heard Derek ask if the kids had eaten yet. She heard Kathy say no, followed by a whole explanation of why she asked him last minute to babysit.

The movement of Leah's hand brought Meredith's attention back to the young child, once again tuning out of Derek and Kathy's discussion. Leah began patting Meredith, then stopped completely and rested her hand against the fabric. Meredith smiled down at the child. Leah mimicked her stare. Once she realized she had met Meredith before and already knew her, she raised her arms in the air to be picked up.

Meredith was slightly taken aback by the little girl's forwardness. She wanted to be held. By Meredith. Was she crazy? She couldn't hold her…. Could she? Unsure of what to do exactly, Meredith settled on squatting on the floor to make herself the same height as Leah.

"I'm not very good at this," Meredith whispered her confession to the tot.

Leah looked her in the eyes and gave a slight nod. There was no way she could have possibly understood what Meredith had said, but the tiny motion of bobbing her head in a venture to do so made her feel a little better. Like it was all right that she didn't know what to do. Leah had given her the OK to be a bit behind in the Mommy 101 course.

Meredith fixed her eyes on the ground and exhaled deeply. She really wasn't the best person to be around kids. She had no idea what she was supposed to do really.

Before another thought could enter her mind, a small finger from that tiny hand of Leah's poked at a freckle on her face.

Meredith picked her head up and let out a slight chuckle. Apparently Leah didn't care too much about her lack of babysitting skills. She just wanted someone to play with.

She took Leah's hand and held it into her own. It was so small. So fragile. She was a little person. Waiting. Waiting for her world to be shaped by the endeavor of others. Everything anyone would ever do in her life would have an effect on who she would become. What kind of person she would be become.

And that thought frightened Meredith to no end.

Knowing that every day, what you do, could have a huge impact on the ones you care for. That was terrifying.

_How do people do this? _she thought._ How am I going to do this? _

Sure it was only for the day, but still… Being responsible for someone other than yourself, knowing that a child's life is in your hands… Making sure that at the end of the day they still have ten fingers and ten toes. Well, that was all something entirely new to her.

And she just didn't want to screw it up.

Meredith looked into the little girl's eyes and felt curiosity staring back at her. Leah didn't understand anything about this. About who to look up to in life. About role models. About good and bad. Right from wrong. She just wanted to learn… Everything.

"Meredith?"

Here thoughts were ceased in an instant. She broke her gaze from Leah and looked up to another set of eyes peering down at her.

"Mer," Derek said when she didn't answer Kathy.

Meredith turned to face him. "Yeah," she said as she quickly got to her feet. "Sorry. I didn't hear you."

She was so engaged by Leah, she didn't even hear their conversation turn to her.

"Sorry," she apologized again. "What were you saying?"

"Derek was just telling me that you don't do this often."

Meredith, unsure of what she was referring to, just stared on mindlessly.

"Babysit." Kathy added, clearing up her statement.

"Oh." Meredith jarred her head. "Right. Yeah. No, I don't do this often." She paused. "Or, ever. Actually."

"Well, don't worry," Kathy tried to reinsure her. "It's only for the day, and Der has been around kids… forever."

"Right," she responded nodding her head.

"We shouldn't have any problems. They're good kids," Derek chimed in. "And they come around quick, They will love you, Mer."

"It looks as if she's already infatuated with you," Kathy laughed, alluding to Leah who was still staring intensely at Meredith.

Derek studied his niece as he shook his head smiling. "It's not hard to do."

Meredith rolled her eyes at him. He was such a sap sometimes.

Leah reached her arms up yet again to Meredith. But instead of indicating to be held, she put her hands into Meredith's and began tugging her arms and swaying back and forth. Just as he sister had done earlier with Derek. It was then that she realized the other child was missing.

"Where. Where's the other one?" Meredith stuttered as Leah continued to play with her hands.

"Other one what?" Kathy countered.

_Seriously…?_

"Um. Kid." Meredith responded.

Kathy let out a small chuckle. "Oh!" she started. "They wanted to play outside for a while. After being stuck in a plane, hotel, and car for the last two days, I can understand."

_Wait…_

"They?" Meredith mumbled.

Kathy glanced down at her watch. "I should probably get going anyway. I'll tell them to come in so you can actually meet them before I take off."

_THEM?_

Panic flared across Meredith's face. "As in… Plural?" she said under her breath. She turned again towards Derek. "More than one?" she said a bit louder to him.

Derek wrinkled his brow and shook his head. He didn't grasp what she was getting at.

"Beth! Boys! Come inside now!" she yelled from the open storm door.

"Boys?!" she repeated behind Kathy.

_Blue… _

She suddenly became much more aware of all the blue luggage that was jumbled in with the pink.

Meredith raised her palm to her forehead in an aim to lessen the blow. She couldn't handle this. Two girls and more than one boy? That was a minimum of four kids. Four kids. She was afraid when she thought it was just the two. How was she supposed to handle four?

_I can't do this. _Meredith thought.

She moved towards Derek with the words on her lips.

_I can't do this. _

He saw the fear in her face. Then it all made sense to him. She didn't know how many kids they were suppose to watch. He forgot to tell her.

Derek grabbed hold of Meredith once she was in arms length and looked into her eyes, regret in his own.

_I can't do this!_

The words were right there, but she couldn't get them out. She was so overwhelmed and exasperated from the morning she could barely comprehend what was actually happening.

"Meredith," Derek whispered as his own nerves moderately started to break through.

This was it. The words would come this time, she was sure of it. As she went to speak, the words rested on the tip of her tongue.

But they didn't stay there.

As a herd of tiny feet filled the room, Meredith's mind had a relapse and she stood silent once more.

Derek released his hold on her and moved his hand to the small of her back in an effect to comfort her. In return, Meredith shifted to face her new occupants.

The young girl, Meredith assumed was Beth, had entered first and went straight to her mother. Behind her came two little boys, dressed in matching cowboy costumes, with uniform cowboy hats.

Meredith paused as she caught a glimpse of the children now present in front of her. They boys were a mirror image of each other. Same height. Same weight. Same… Everything.

_Twins. _

"Meredith," Kathy began as she pointed to each of her children. "This is Robbie, Matthew, and Beth. And you've already met Leah."

Kathy glanced at Meredith, looking for a sign to continue on. When Meredith did nothing, Kathy thought it best to continue anyway and finish her introduction.

"Kids, this is…" she paused, searching for the right words. "Your… Uncle Derek's… This is… This is Meredith."

For these kids entire life, they had known their Uncle Derek to come along with an Aunt Addison. Kathy didn't think now was the best time to bring up that whole ordeal and try to explain why Uncle Derek has a new girlfriend.

"Hi," one of the twins said.

Meredith didn't reply. From behind, Derek gave her a nudge, snapping her out of the traumatic moment.

"Hi," she whispered back.

Kathy glanced from her kids to Meredith and back. They were just looking at each other. Every one of them.

Derek caught notice of this as well and decided it was best to move on.

"Okay," he said as he clapped his hands together. "Who's hungry?"

He had never heard so many children all scream "Yay!" and "Me!" so many times in his life.

"Well, all right then," he laughed. "Let's tell your mom goodbye so we can go have some breakfast."

Twin number one quickly turned to his mother. "Bye, Momma," he said reaching up to give her a hug.

"See you later!" Twin number two followed suit.

"Bye, babies," Kathy said as she reached down to give Beth a hug. "Be good for your uncle."

"We will," Beth replied.

Kathy then picked up Leah, who was amusing herself with a knot that ran on the floor below them. She hugged her tightly and kissed her on the cheek as Derek pointed the other kids in the direction of the kitchen.

"You too, Leah," she said laughing to her mellow daughter and watched her other kids scurry off.

Without hesitation, Kathy forced Leah into Meredith's arms.

"Ohhh," Meredith gasped in surprise as she wrapped her arms tightly around the child who now resided in them.

"Alright," Kathy stared as she put her hand on the doorknob. "I won't be back too late."

"It's fine. Don't rush back for the sack of rushing," Derek said. "We'll be fine."

As Derek leaned in to kiss his sister on the cheek, a loud bang that sounded somewhat like metal hitting the floor echoed from the kitchen behind them, followed by a great deal of laughter.

Kathy moved from the doorway as if to tend to the situation, but Derek stopped her before she reached a foot.

"Kathy, go," he said softly to her. "Don't worry about it. I got it."

Kathy nodded in agreement. She knew her brother could handle anything. And she was already running late.

"Okay," she responded as she started to leave.

With that, Derek moved away from his sister on to his new destination. But not before stopping and giving Meredith a genital kiss on the lips.

"Are you alright?"

Meredith, who still had a tight grasp around Leah, slowly shook her head.

"Talk later?" he asked.

Meredith continued to shake her head.

Derek mimicked her movement with a smirk steadily forming on his lips. He then kissed her again and hurried on into the kitchen.

Meredith looked at the baby in her arms and, unsure of how to handle her exactly, turned around to follow Derek.

"Meredith?"

She turned back to see Kathy standing in the doorway.

Kathy started to move back into the foyer. "I just wanted to say… Thank you."

Meredith nodded and forced a half smile as she turned to leave.

"I mean," Kathy continued. "For more than just babysitting."

Meredith stopped in her tracks and turned to face her.

"Thank you. For taking care of Derek," she paused. "When the rest of us couldn't."

Kathy rubbed Leah's arm and gave her another quick kiss. "You'll do fine," she said to Meredith.

And then she was gone.

Meredith stood lost for words. Did that really just happen? This whole time, Meredith thought the worst. That Kathy would hate her. Not trust her. Judge her, just as Nancy had done. But instead… She had thanked her. Thanked her for the one thing she felt she should be shameful of.

Loving Derek.

Leah shifted in Meredith's arms, making her regain focus.

She turned on her heals and with a little more spunk in her step, moved towards the kitchen, letting a tiny smile pull at the corners of her mouth along the way.

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**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews, they are greatly appreciated. I hate to leave it here when things are finally happening with the kids, but more of that to come in part 5. Unfortunately, I don't know when part 5 will be posted, but hopefully soon. I'm going on vacation tomorrow for the week and my poor laptop has to stay home so I won't get much done. I know what I want to happen; it's just finding the right words. So who knows. Maybe something will get written… Part 5 will come soon though. I promise!**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: OK, well here's part five. Sorry it took a bit longer to post. Reviews are appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

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Smash!

All heads turned towards Derek's nephew who was standing on a chair next to the island.

"Oops!" the little boy laughed. "Sorry Uncle Derek," he said as hopped off the chair.

Derek quickly wrapped his arm around his nephew and pulled him away from the mess. "It's alright, Matthew. Matthew!" Derek chuckled as the kid tried to wiggle free to clean it up.

Matthew stopped fighting as Derek lifted him and stood him back on the chair.

"You keep mixing, I got it," he said as he garbed a paper towel from the counter and bent down to wipe up the eggs Matthew had knocked onto the floor.

Meredith sat across from them, her chin resting in the palm of her hand as she watched the boy start to stir the pancake mix again. She noticed in all the commotion that his cowboy hat had fallen from his head and now dangled around his neck. But he didn't care. He didn't try to fix it, or take it off. He was more interested in completing the task Derek had left him with. And he was having fun. He would start out real slow, getting all the batter around the edge, then speed up as he moved towards the center.

"How's it looking?" Derek asked as he peered over his shoulder.

Matthew shrugged in return. "I think it's done."

Meredith studied the boy, trying to take in his features as well as his mannerisms.

_Matthew. Okay… that one is Matthew, _she thought.

"I need the brown crayon!"

Meredith turned her direction to the other children sitting at the table behind her.

Coloring books and sheets of paper now covered the table end to end. Meredith monitored the other twin as he reached across the table to his older sister with his hand sprawled. Beth obliged to his request and handed him the brown crayon, which he willingly accepted and returned to his work, coloring away at his page.

Leah sat in her booster seat, peacefully, with a bottle in hand as she keep an eye on her older siblings who continued to color the pages in front of them. With her free hand, she grabbed the closest crayon and started to run it back and forth across a sheet of paper, mimicking the motion her brother was doing.

_Which means, that one is Robbie._

Meredith continued to watch Robbie a few moments more until the sizzling noise from the frying pan brought her attention back around towards his uncle and brother. Meredith eye's darted to the pan just in time to see the pancakes being flipped over. Her gaze shifted upwards, only to be met with Derek's staring back; a smirk on his face.

Busted.

Or so _he_ thought.

Meredith knew what his smirk meant. He thought she was really getting into the kid thing. Watching them make breakfast, and color, and be all happy in their kid world. Debating about whether or not to grab a crayon and dive right in, too.

The look on his face showed hope.

She didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise. That she wasn't really paying much attention to them, in the aspect of wanting to participate in what they were doing, but rather paying attention to how they did things. Trying to observe them and find a way to decipher between the two boys and tell them apart. How did Derek do it anyhow? They looked exactly the same.

"What?" Meredith asked him.

Derek closed his mouth, but the smile was still evident. "Nothing," he said shaking his head.

Yep. He was definitely thinking that.

Meredith felt a pinch of guilt rush over her. Why was it so hard to be around kids? They were just… Kids. Innocent. Carefree. Harmless. She should be happy to have this chance to spend the day with them, not dreading it.

Derek, on the other hand, fit perfectly in the world of children. He knew how to handle them. How to talk with them. How to be a superior as well as a friend. And he did it all with ease.

Compared to Meredith, he did have the upper hand. His first niece was born while he was still in high school so there have always been children around. He came from a large family. Lots of kids. Meredith was an only child. The little time she spent with his kin thus far was probably the most she had ever been around children all together.

"I'm pathetic," Meredith said under her breath.

Derek's smile dropped a little. "Meredith," he sighed. "Don't rush yourself into anything. Give it time."

After a moment, she gave him a weak smile and sat in silence as he continued on making the pancakes. The children went on and on, talking to one another about the most random things. They would debate about superheroes and cartoons, making sure to get Derek's opinion on each topic before they moved on. He tried to include Meredith in their discussions, but when he would ask for her input, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She would stutter on her words, stop, and just agree with whatever Derek said. She really wasn't an expert in the kid area of conversation, either.

Matthew tugged on Derek's shirt, removing himself from the discussion. "Uncle Derek, are they done yet?"

"Um… Yeah," he replied as he lifted some more pancakes onto an empty plate. "Just give me one second."

Derek cracked a few eggs onto the frying pan then picked up two plates of pancakes.

"I don't like eggs!" the little boy cried out.

"They're not for you, they're for Leah," Derek said, holding back laughter. "Here." He gave his nephew the plates of pancakes he was holding. "Give one to Beth and one to Robbie, then come back for your plate."

Matthew nodded and followed his orders. The children all pushed their crayons and drawings to the center of the table as Matthew passing out the plates to his siblings. Derek quickly scrambled up the eggs and added them to a plate, just as Matthew returned for his own. Derek grabbed the syrup bottle in his free hand and tagged along with his nephew back over to the table.

He sat down next to Leah to help her get started on the eggs.

As the smell of breakfast filled the air, Meredith's stomach rumbled, reminding her that she was hungry as well. She got up from her seat and moved to the other side of the island in search of her own food. However, when she opened the refrigerator door, hoping to find something edible, she was a bit surprised to find that it was almost bare.

To maintain food in the home, one must shop for it. Meredith did not do this. She wasn't a big fan of the grocery store thing. It was a hassle. A waste of time. Much easier to flip open the phonebook and order something, or pick up take out on the way home from the hospital.

But she did go shopping. Sometimes. Reluctantly. Whenever the roommate rotation of shopping roulette landed on her, she would go. Or Derek. More often than not, she would try to pawn it off on him. And he would go. He even volunteered at times making her feel penitent and she would end up caving in and go along with him for company.

She assumed that's why the fridge was empty now. It must have been her turn to go and she blocked it out at some point. Derek was at the hospital all week, they both were really, and so neither of them would have had a chance to get out and restock the fridge.

Meredith reached her arm to the back of the refrigerator and pulled out a Tupperware container. She opened it, sniffed it, and quickly replaced it, never wanting to ever smell the thing again.

The only other contents consisted of diet soda, cold cuts, cheese, expired yogurt, week old pizza wrapped in tinfoil and Chinese food still in its original containers.

She sighed in disgust. "I hate Chinese food."

She knew Derek would make fun of her if she tried to eat the pizza. Nothing seemed appealing. Maybe she wasn't hungry after all.

Her stomach begged to differ as it rumbled again.

Meredith closed the refrigerator door and moved to overhead cabinet to check out the cereal. She pulled out a large box of Super Bran and silently decided that it would do. At least it was the safest option.

Through the clamor of children talking, she heard Derek laugh so she turned in his direction.

He was watching Leah as she attempted to hold her fork properly. She scrunched up her nose, examined the egg that hung off the end of it, before plopping it in her mouth. After analyzing the taste, she decided it was to her liking and continued on with another bite.

Derek thought she was adorable. The way he looked at her, Meredith could tell he simply found her fascinating. He seemed truly happy to be spending time with the kids, and he was a natural at it, too. He made it look so easy.

Derek felt her stare in their direction, so turned his attention to Meredith. She quickly looked away before their eyes could make contact, and moved back to her post at the island.

Busted. Again.

He was going to assume the same thing as before. That she wanted to participate, too. But really, right now, all she wanted was food.

She sat back down and reached into the box, pulling out a handful of its contents, and willingly devoured it dry.

Derek kissed Leah's forehead and looked at the other kids, who were thoroughly enjoying their pancakes. Seeing of how everything was going well, he removed himself from the table and walked back over to the stovetop.

Meredith watched from the corner of her eye as he relit the burner and turned to the fridge. Upon opening the door, he was hit with the starkness it held. "Now this is just sad."

"Tell me about it," Meredith muttered as she scooped out another handful of cereal.

After removing what he could use from the fridge, Derek repositioned himself in front of the stove. He cracked two eggs on the frying pan and began to work away at them.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

His eyes darted away from his task and followed the direction of the sound to Meredith, just as she was pulling her hand out of the box.

"What?" she asked as she refilled her mouth with more cereal.

Derek just shook his head. He was about to say something to her when the kids distracted him. Robbie had knocked over the syrup bottle into the food on Matthew's plate. It created a soft splat noise when it landed, and they all found it hilarious. Even Derek laughed as he hurried over to stop things before they worsened.

Meredith breathed a sigh of relief, thankful of the kids for creating a distraction and removing Derek's attention from her and replacing it on to them.

She turned her head to read the clock on the microwave.

7:43

Her whole morning was turned upside-down in a matter of minutes. And she felt every one of them. The clock was slowly ticking by and there was no way for her to speed up the process and get the day over with. Granted, it wasn't horrible so far. She did have a few surprises that shocked the hell out of her, but really she had the easy end of it. Derek was doing most of the work. He made them breakfast. He humored their conversations. All she had to do was sit there.

How hard was that?

"They don't bite, you know."

Meredith flinched as Derek whispered in her ear, unaware that he had moved next to her. She looked at him, dumbfounded, as he moved past her to tend the eggs.

"You don't have to sit over here alone. You can… sit with us."

Meredith sighed as she looked into his eyes. He wanted her there. He wanted her to be with his family. Be apart of his family.

But she didn't know how too.

She wanted to try. She really did. But. Right now. Right now, she was safe. The four feet she had between her seat at the island and the kids at the table was the safety net. She was grateful to have it.

And she wasn't sure if she was ready to give it up yet. Ready to leap.

Before she even had time to answer Derek's appeal, he was standing before her carrying two plates of food.

Meredith looked down at the one he thrusting towards her.

She did like the kids. So far. They seemed… Okay. In all reality, though, she was overwhelmed and on the verge of completely freaking out. Her emotions were playing haywire and wrecking havoc on her nerves every time she even thought of babysitting. She wanted to do it.

She just wasn't sure if she could.

"It's too much," Meredith said, keeping her head low.

Derek looked down at the plate in his hand. A small stack of pancakes rested next to a ham and cheese omelet. "No it's not," he countered. "I have seen you eat twice this before."

_What?_

"No…" She looked at the expression of mirth on his face. _What? Is he… _

She then realized he thought she was referring to the amount of food he was handing to her.

Derek usually read her like an open book. At least he attempted to, rather. But this…. This, he didn't see. She was on the brink of a meltdown and he didn't notice. Or he decided not to acknowledge it. Either way, he had moved on form their preceding topic.

"I meant…" she continued, but stopped herself before going any farther. She couldn't tell him. He was happy. He had the right to be happy. She didn't want to bring him down with her and leave the weight of her doubts on his shoulders. It wouldn't be fair. Alternatively, Meredith accepted the plate and went along with him. "You didn't have to."

She smiled at him, agreeing that it was best to let it go and move on.

"You have to learn what breakfast is at some point," he said, removing the box of Super Bran she was clutching in her arm.

"Cereal is breakfast!" she defended her previous choice.

Derek laughed. She was cute when she was angry. "True," he said. "But this is better."

"Yeah," she teased. I guess."

"Fine then," Derek teased back. "If you don't want it…"

He reached for her plate just as she caught a whiff of the aroma it was giving off.

"No!" she quickly stopped him. "I can work with this."

Derek chuckled softly ad he closed the box of cereal and placed it onto the counter behind him. As he started to walk away, she lightly grabbed his arm.

"Hey. Thanks."

Meredith leaned up into him and kissed him in a very non-PG way, earning a high amount of snickering from the little children seated behind her.

They both heard it.

Neither of them cared.

Meredith let her lips linger on his a moment longer before pulling away slowly.

"Well." His voice cracked as it came out slightly hoarse. "I should make you breakfast more often."

She smiled brightly as he handed her a fork, then took his own plate over to the table to sit with the kids.

Meredith took a large bite of her omelet, savoring the taste. Derek loved to cook, especially for Meredith, but the long hours at the hospital wore so strenuous he didn't get to do it often. The mornings were hectic; evenings were late. Whenever he had the chance to make her something, though, he jumped on it. She would always put up a fight, telling him not to waste his time for her. She didn't cook, so she didn't expect anyone to cook for her. But Derek would always insist. He didn't care, he just wanted to make her smile.

And he got one every time.

He was so good to her. He was a good person.

Meredith pulled away from her food as she heard Derek laugh at something the kids said. She turned her head and saw him smiling at them. He was completely infatuated. Nothing existed outside the realm he was currently in. Nothing else mattered.

Derek caught her glance for a moment and winked at her.

She smiled in return, meaning it more than ever this time. She looked back down at the food Derek had fixed for her and picked up her plate. Meredith walked over to the empty chair at the table and sat down; Derek sat across from her, watching, smiling ear to ear.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So... Yeah. Sorry this took so long to get posted. I've been working on it like crazy, but it was giving me trouble. I rewrote it at least three times. AND I had to pack and get things in order to come back out to school, so that took up time as well. Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews. Keep 'em coming : ) Cheers!  
**

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Meredith had volunteered to do the dishes.

She wasn't trying to avoid the kids. Or Derek. Or use it as an excuse to hide out. She just felt like lending a hand after Derek had spent the morning over the stove. And entertaining the kids.

She wanted to do something to help out. She wasn't good at the kid thing, at that she was trying. But dishes she could do.

She actually ended up having a decent time sitting at the table with the kids. After she had settled in across from Derek, the kids were on her like a moth to a flame. It was non-stop talking. Question after comment. Comment, question. The kids were so excited to have Meredith sitting with them, excited to have someone new to talk to, that they would stop eating after every bite and give their entire attention to her, no matter if she was speaking or not.

According to Derek, the look on her face was "irreplaceable". She did the best she could in answering the kids, humoring them, but it was still overwhelming. She wasn't use to having so much attention on her at once. Well. Not the good kind anyway.

She was impaled from the left. Then from the right. Twin number one wanted to know this, twin number two had to tell her about that. Beth liked her eyes. Twin two liked her hair. Leah yawned in the distance. Derek laughed at it all.

Meredith couldn't stop her neck from snapping back and forth. She had tried to keep up with everything that was going on, but it had proved to be a difficult task. She had lost track of everything that was being said and had turned to Derek with pleading eyes that screamed "save me", while the expression of insecurity grew across her face. Derek had ceased his laughter and smiled back to her, nodded, and then muttered something to the kids about their food. Meredith had missed what he was, but the commotion slowed down to a tolerable pace as the children shoveled more of their pancakes into their mouths, now stopping only every few bites to say something else.

After the children had settled down a bit, Meredith finally had a chance to clear her mind. And a chance to breathe. She had refocused and adjusted herself and spent a good half hour finishing breakfast with them, relishing their enthusiasm and conversation as well as their precociousness.

A small smile worked its way onto Meredith's face as she rinsed off the last sticky dish. From breakfast alone, she realized it really wasn't that hard being with the kids after all. Spending time with them. Listening to them. Really, she found herself actually enjoying it.

Granted, she wouldn't want to do it 24/7, but the morning so far had at least made her see differently and accept the whole babysitting thing.

Even more now that Derek had taken them in the other room.

Meredith unloaded the dishwasher to make room for the dirty ones. She stopped for a second when she heard a fit of giggles just beyond the doorway of the kitchen. Her smile reached her eyes as the thought of what they could be doing to Derek entered her mind.

Derek really knew what he was doing when it came to kids. She couldn't get over it. She knew he had a big family, but she didn't realize how involved he was with them.

He knew things about them. He knew how to do things with them.

He knew them.

And she was learning.

After putting away the clean dishes, she turned on her heels to reload the dishwasher with the dirty ones. Just as she was finishing up, she heard the barstool slide across the floor behind her. Meredith abruptly turned around to see Beth climbing onto it and settling herself at the island, coloring book in hand.

Meredith froze, staring at her.

Beth didn't seem to notice. She was more concerned on which picture in her book she wanted to work on. She flipped through the pages a bit then when she decided on the one, she stopped and lifted her head, her eyes landing on Meredith.

"I forgot my crayons."

Meredith blinked. Was she supposed to… "I'll get them," she said as she saw Beth debating on how best to get down from her seat.

Remembering the piles of crayons on the table during breakfast, Meredith rushed to grab them, but when she got there, the crayons were gone.

_Crap. _

"I. Ah… I thought you were with your uncle. Playing… or something," Meredith said, trying to distract the child as she looked around for the crayons, lifting random objects, moving things around in the kitchen.

"They're boys," Beth said, flipping through her book some more. "They're in there wrestling each other up. Uncle Derek tried to be referee, but then they climbed on him and messed up his hair. He wasn't happy after that, but he was laughing. I think he was kiddin'. Anyway, I don't like wrestling, so Uncle Derek told me I could color more, 'cause I like to color…"

Meredith tried to listen to what she was saying. She did ask her after all, but… _Where the hell are the damn crayons. _

The kid wanted to color. She didn't like to roughhouse. She wasn't a boy. That's the information Meredith absorbed from her story. She needed to find those crayons.

She jerked her head around looking for where they could be, Beth still chatting away in the distance. She didn't move the crayons, she was sure of that. She didn't see the kids move them. When they were done eating, Derek helped her clear the table and the kids went back to coloring. At the table. With their books.

"And the crayons," Meredith finished her thought aloud as she ran a hand through her hair.

"There on the shelf. In the bowl," Beth said from behind.

Meredith turned her head to see the young girl sitting sideways on her seat, letting her legs dangle, and pointing to the hutch on the other side of the table.

She followed the direction of her tiny finger and saw the tips of several colorful crayons emerging from a bowl, just as Beth had said. Derek must have cleaned them up when she started on the dishes.

Meredith gave the child a closed smile as she walked over to the hutch and gripped the bowl in both hands. They were right out in the open. She even looked on the hutch, how did she miss it?

For a moment she felt foolish. Then she felt foolish for feeling foolish.

She was freaking out over missing crayons. But. Why?

They were just crayons.

Beth didn't seen to be worried. She didn't care that Meredith was oblivious. Or that she took forever to find them. She really didn't even make a comment towards her, with the exception of actually letting her in on where the crayons were. Instead she waited patiently at the island, and continued telling Meredith about playing with her brothers and uncle.

Meredith looked down in to the bowl and stared at the crayons. There was something about them, though. Something she was missing.

She couldn't remember the last time she had used them, actually. She use to color a lot when she was small, but at some point, she just… stopped. She wasn't very artistic, but coloring books had lines to follow. It was practically foolproof. Which was the main reason she loved doing it.

Then it hit her.

She remembered coloring pages and tearing them out of the book to give to her mother. When she would finish one, she would write "To Mommy" on the top of it and leave it on the kitchen counter, with pride, for her to see the following morning.

They were always gone when Meredith went to check. It made her smile when she thought of her mother taking her pictures to work, hanging them up in her office, showing them to her coworkers. It took Meredith a while to realize her mother didn't do either of those things, but instead she disposed of them in the kitchen trashcan.

When she had mentioned it to her father, he tried to rescue a few from the waste, but they were already ruined. When she had confronted her mother, her only response to her daughter was that coloring was "childish". It was obscure to her that five-year-old Meredith was just that: a child.

So she stopped.

Meredith looked up from the crayons. Beth was staring at her.

What was she suppose to say? 'Sorry. I mentally unlocked a lost, traumatic, childhood memory involving wax crayons and my dead mother'?

Meredith swallowed back the memory and raised the bowl at a slight angle towards her. "Got them." She then walked over to the kid and placed the crayons next to her.

She sighed. _What now?_

She couldn't leave Beth alone in the kitchen. She couldn't tell her to stop coloring, go away. The dishes were done; the table and counter were clean.

She sighed again and leaned against the island, across from Beth, and propped her head up with her arms.

Meredith peered at Beth, who was digging through the crayons looking for the right one. When she found the one she needed, she started straight away on her new picture.

She stopped for a moment and looked up at Meredith. "Thank you," she said as her smile grew, reaching her blue eyes. She tilted her head to the side, then looked down at her work, letting her silky curls frame her face.

Meredith gasped in surprise. She had spent the whole morning with Beth and her siblings. Several hours, not only in the same house, but in the same room with them. But she didn't notice…

She didn't realize…

She sat there and gawked at Beth, but what she really saw was Derek. She looked so much like him; she could easily be mistaken for his daughter, without a doubt.

Her eyes were piercing blue; they could stop a heart.

Or melt one.

She had the hair, too. Full. Think. Dark chocolate brown curls that stopped right at her shoulders. Actually, the shape of her face resembled Derek's also, but in a softer more feminine way. She really was a gorgeous little girl.

Her quirks even matched Derek's. The head tilt. The smile. Even her optimism.

She seemed surprisingly at ease being in a strange home, sitting across from someone she didn't know all that well, telling her everything and anything. She wasn't shy, that's for sure.

She was polite, but outspoken. She was very bright. And she was too wise for her age. Meredith was sure this kid would grow up to be anything she wanted to be. And if she went into the family business, she would become a world-renowned surgeon in any field she desired.

Beth would easily excel in every part of her life.

Just like Derek.

Sure, Derek had misfortunes here and there. He lost his father when he was young. Had a failed marriage under his belt. But that wasn't his whole life. These were just things that set him in directions to be the person he is. And most of those paths in his life took him to good things. He had his dream job. He had his sisters, his nieces and nephews, his mother. And he had Meredith.

According to him, he had it all.

It was enough for him. He was set in life. His job earned him more money a year than most people see in a lifetime. Ha could buy anything he wanted. He could go anywhere. Do anything. But that didn't matter.

Family. That's what mattered to Derek Shepherd.

He would spend the day babysitting, just because he loved his sister, and her kids. And he would spend the day babysitting just to be around Meredith.

Family.

They were his family.

Beth rummaged through the bowl of crayons, snapping Meredith back into reality.

Meredith shifted her eyes onto Beth's creation. "What are you coloring?"

Beth adjusted herself in her seat, scratched her nose and beamed at Meredith. "Hello Kitty," she said, obviously prod of her work of art.

Meredith gave a weak smile in return and nodded slowly. _Of course. _

"You wanna color with me?"

Meredith looked into the little girls eyes. They were shining back with aspiration and excitement. She couldn't tell her no. It would break her heart.

After all, she was family.

"A… Sure," Meredith said as she stood up straight and braced herself against the island.

Beth's smile grew. She ripped her picture out of the coloring book as Meredith walked around to sit next to her.

Once she was seated, Beth slid the book over to her, then moved the bowl of crayons between them.

Meredith opened the book and flipped a few pages until she found one to color. "This one okay?"

Beth leaned over and looked at the picture Meredith was referring to. "Yeah. That one is one of my favorites."

"Are you sure, then?" Meredith said as she lifted the book. "I could color a different one if you want."

Beth stopped her before she could turn the page. "No. That's one of my favorites. I want you to color it. Kay?"

Meredith smiled at her. "Okay." She sat the book down and smoothed it out. Beth watched her as she looked at the bowl of crayons, trying to decide on the color to use. She caught Beth's gaze and looked back at her. "I haven't done this in a while."

Beth reached into the bowl and pulled out three pink crayons, all different shades. "Can't go wrong with pink," she said as she handed them to Meredith.

She laughed softly as she accepted the crayons from Beth. She looked down at the picture lying in front of her.

Forget babysitting, THIS was overwhelming.

Meredith looked back over at Beth. Without saying a word, Beth took one of Meredith's crayons and colored a small mark on several spots of the picture. She handed the crayon back to Meredith and started work on her own again.

Meredith laughed again and shook her head. It wasn't the first time she felt unintelligent this morning. By now, though, she didn't even care.

Beth was having fun. That's what mattered.

She started coloring the spots Beth had marked for her. When she was almost through with those, Beth grabbed a different crayon from the bowl and did the same thing for her again. She then handed the crayon to Meredith for her to continue on.

They worked in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Every once in a while Beth would comment on the good job Meredith was doing. Meredith would laugh and respond by telling her the same.

She worked diligently on the picture. Staying in the lines. Following the colors Beth chose. When she finished her first picture, she held it up to Beth for approval. Beth smiled at her job well done and took the coloring book to find a new one for her.

She handed it back to Meredith, open to a fresh one, and continued to help her by choosing the crayons and placing the color marks on the picture.

Meredith shook her head as she chuckled. She watched as Beth refocused on her own, adding detail to select parts, darkening the color here and there. She really was a perfectionist.

Beth looked up at Meredith, then down to her blank page, and back.

Meredith got the hint and began to color away at her new picture.

She was about halfway through when she felt a new presence towering behind her. She looked up form her work and grinned sheepishly.

"Look Uncle Derek!" Beth yelled happily as she held up her masterpiece.

"That's gorgeous, Beth," Derek replied smiling. "Yours, too," he said softly to Meredith as she tried to hide the picture with her elbow.

"It's not finished," Meredith pouted playfully, slightly embarrassed to be coloring at all.

"Well. What you have done so far is beautiful," he countered, placing his hand under her chin.

Meredith gave him a closed smile and leaned into his touch. The warmth of his skin was such a comfort. It made everything else go away. And she loved him for that.

She loved him for just being.

Derek smiled back and her, sharing a tender moment. It didn't last long, though, as Beth interrupted by saying something about how well Meredith had been doing.

"I'm glad to hear it," Derek smiled to his niece. "She's full of surprises."

Meredith rolled her eyes. _He'll pay for that one later. _

She shifted her attention back to her coloring, but stopped once more when she realized only Derek was in the room with them.

"Where is everyone else?" Meredith questioned, surprising herself at the tone of concern in her voice.

Derek laughed softly. "The boys are playing chess, but Leah kept stealing their pieces, so she's in her playpen being entertained by her stuffed animals now."

Meredith raised her brow at him. "Playing chess?"

Derek laughed again. "Well, their version of it. They just kind of set the pieces up wherever and move them around," he said, mimicking the motion with his hand. "They enjoy it, though."

"Glad to hear it." Meredith replied, using his own words. She tilted her head to the side. "You changed your shirt," she observed.

"I did," he responded.

"I thought you were playing with the boys."

"I was." Derek stopped and looked over at Beth, who was tuning them out and concentrating on her work. "Mer… can..." He shifted his attention back to her. "Can we talk? Out in the hall?"

Meredith looked over to Beth, then nodded and removed herself from her seat. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Beth, we'll be right back, alright?" Derek said, ignoring Meredith's query.

"Okay," Beth said, barely taking her eyes away.

Derek took Meredith's hand and led her back through the kitchen door. "Derek," Meredith said, her tone both questioning and commanding.

Once they were in the hall, away from all the children, Derek stopped and turned to her.

"What is going on?" she repeated.

He looked into her eyes, tilted his head to the side, and gave her his McDreamy smile.

But there was something missing.

He was trying to cover for something.

She didn't like where this was going.

"…Derek"

* * *

**I know. Cliffhanger. I'm mean. But more to come. And hopefully soon. ; )**


	7. Chapter 7

"You WHAT?!" Meredith shrieked as the blood starting to boil through her veins. She felt a rush of anger take over and drain it in an instant. All she was left with was a feeling of complete emptiness lingering inside.

Derek sucked in a breath. He was standing a good four feet away from her, but it sure as hell felt like four inches. He stood his ground, though. She was cute when she was angry. But right now… Right now, she appeared to be on the verge of ready-to-kick-his-ass furious.

And as cute as she was, he was somewhat worried to be standing so close to her at the moment.

She did have a right to be mad. He hadn't meant to spring it on her like he did, but he couldn't think of any other way to do it. It would have been a blow no matter what. But really, it wasn't his fault.

Not exactly, anyway.

"Meredith," Derek said ever so calmly.

She stood the same as she had been. Not moving. Her arms clenched tight against her sides. Both feet firmly planted on the ground. She was still, but from the look on her face Derek knew, one wrong move on his part and she'd be lunging towards him.

Meredith exhaled in a huff. "You can NOT be serious!"

Derek ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Meredith…"

She ignored him completely as she crossed her arms and looked away.

"Meredith."

She didn't move.

"Mere…" he said softly.

His tone was soothing. Reassuring. But him calling out her name was not what she wanted to hear. She didn't want him to leave. Meredith turned her head back, caving in to his presence.

Derek's gaze locked with hers and her eyes told him everything.

He knew she wasn't happy. He knew he should have declined. How could he, though? It wouldn't be like him. It wouldn't be who he was.

He had to go.

He reached out an arm and brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. "Meredith," he tried again.

That one touch did it all. Her face softened into his hand and the anger she felt lowered to a simmer.

I know, she said. Except she didn't say it. I get it. I understand. Go. She wanted to say it. She wanted to say all of it.

But she couldn't.

It wasn't fair. She knew he had to go. But it wasn't fair. She knew he would rather be there. With the kids. With her.

It wasn't fair.

He looked so guilty. So sad. And she was being selfish.

She had to let him go.

Meredith opened her mouth to speak but before she could get a single word out, she was cut off by the sound of little feet running down the hall towards them.

Derek quickly turned around, only to have his legs collide with that of a toddler. The small boy ricocheted back and looked up into the eyes of his uncle.

"Uncle Derek! I thought you left already!" he cried out and reached his arms up.

"Not yet. Why, what's wrong, Robbie?" Derek asked as he lifted the child in his arms.

"Matthew kickeded me!" he answered with a pout on his face.

Derek wrinkled his brow, taken back by the boy's comment. "That doesn't sound like Matthew." He placed Robbie back on the ground and took his hand into his own. "Come on. Let's go talk to him."

Derek looked back at Meredith with an apologetic look on his face. He already knew she didn't want to be left alone with the kids. And this… This was not helping.

Meredith shifted her weight and let out a sigh. She slowly shook her head and let her arms drop to her sides as she followed them towards the living room.

When Derek put a protective hand on Robbie's shoulder, Meredith knew. She knew he didn't want to leave just as much as she didn't want him to leave.

Maybe she could get him to stay after all. Talk to him. Talk some sense into him. If he didn't want to go… Then he shouldn't.

_He should stay_, she thought to herself.

They rounded the corner, forming a small line.

"Hi Uncle Derek!" Matthew called out.

Derek quickly turned his attention to Meredith, in an attempt to gage her reaction of an upside-down Matthew on the couch with his feet dangling in the air.

And just as he suspected, she was not too happy.

_OK. He is SO not going._ Any of her previous thoughts where she even considered letting him leave were now nonexistent.

Leah cooed from her playpen, bringing the attention of her uncle away from Meredith and onto her. Leah reached her arms over the top of the playpen and pulled herself tight against the rim.

Derek looked back at Meredith once more and shifted towards the baby.

"WE are not done," Meredith said in a harsh hushed tone as she crossed her arms and looked away.

Derek's gaze dropped to the floor as he nodded and walked over to Leah. "Does your mother let you do that?" he asked Matthew as he lifted Leah into a hug.

"No," the boy chuckled. "But Daddy does!"

Derek smiled to him. "Well, please stop. I don't want you to get hurt if you fall."

"Uncle Dereeeeekkkk."

Derek whipped his head around, following the sound of his name. And he couldn't help the soft little laugh that escaped from his lips. Robbie was standing directly in front of Meredith, and they looked exactly the same. A scowl plastered across their faces. Their hands tightly pressed against their hips. They both looked pissed, and they matched perfectly. If the previous cry weren't led by "uncle," Derek would not have known who was actually whining to him.

Meredith caught his gaze and looked down at Matthew. She hastily jumped out of her stance and crossed her arms as she hovered against the entryway of the living room. Her expression towards Derek didn't change, though. If anything, it only got stronger.

Yeah. Derek wasn't in the best position to be making fun of her, either. He ignored Meredith's death ray stare and changed his attention back to the twin on the couch. "Matthew," he said calmly. "Did you kick your brother?"

Matthew flipped right side up and nodded frantically to his uncle. "We were playin' karate. You have to kick when you play karate!" he said, trying to explain. "That's the whole point!"

It was when Matthew settled into sitting tailor style on the couch that Meredith realized the boys had changed their clothing and were now wearing the same karate uniforms, with matching white belts.

"You kickeded me too hard!" Robbie yelled to his brother as his pout grew and he threw his arms down to his sides.

"You said they were playing _chess_," Meredith, even more annoyed, snorted to Derek from behind him.

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "They were when I left them."

"How long were you gone?!" she demanded.

Derek was about to answer when he noticed three little sets of eyes staring at two very loud adults. He motioned to Meredith for them to leave the room.

Instead, Meredith stood up straight as a look of realization crossed her face. She looked again at the light blue button-down shirt he now wore. "You changed your shirt."

Derek kissed Leah on the cheek and sat her back down in the playpen. "Matthew, apologize to your brother. And no more karate," he quickly said as he placed his hand on Meredith's side and nudged her into the hall, away from the kids. There was no reason to subject them to the amount of yelling he knew was about to come.

"You changed your shirt!" she seethed again.

They stood across the hall from each other. Derek looking culpable and Meredith ready to let him have it.

"From the beginning," she started. "From the beginning you were going to go. I had no say in it at all."

"Meredith," Derek sighed. "You knew I was on call."

"Yes! I knew you were on call _before_ I knew about our little house guests, Derek."

He fixed his eyes on the floor.

"You should have called off when you found out they were coming."

"I know," he said quietly.

"And now." She stopped. Meredith stopped talking. This whole thing felt so unreal to her. Like she was hovering over her own body, watching. Watching everything fall apart in front of her and she couldn't stop it.

Except she could.

"Derek..."

"What do you want me to do, Meredith," he asked shaking his head. "Call the chief? Tell him I can't come in?"

She had to tell him to stay.

"Derek."

"I have an obligation," he said softly as he took a step towards her. "I know. I should have called off, but what can I do now? I didn't know they were going to call me in." He took another step closer. "I can't just not show up."

She had to tell him to stay.

Except she couldn't.

She stood silent.

Derek placed both hands on the sides of her face. She didn't even notice she was crying until he wiped away a tear from her eye.

She sniffled softy and nodded. Derek removed his hands and nodded in return.

She knew he was right. But she was terrified of being alone with the kids. There was a reason she never babysat before. She wanted him there with her. She needed him there with her.

Meredith looked over at Leah, who was sitting up in her playpen, quiet as can be. She was surrounded by her stuffed animals. Playing with them, inspecting them. Lining them up so she could look at them. Having the option to pick and choose which to give her attention to. She settled with a stuffed dog. She grabbed the oversized toy by its neck and hugged it tightly. Like it was her most prized possession. Like her world would crumble without it.

For a minute Meredith thought about if she had a kid. For a minute, she thought about her kid being sick. Really sick. Like, severe trauma to the head, sick. She wouldn't want a second best surgeon operating on her kid. Fixing _her_ kid. She would want the best she could have.

She would want Derek.

He was the best.

"I know," Meredith finally said in a sigh.

Derek tilted his head and smiled at her. "You know."

She gave a weak smile in return. As quickly as it came, it was gone, though, as a loud shattering sound interrupted there moment.

Together they turned the corner to see one of the boys standing over his brother, who was lying on the ground next to a broken picture frame.

"Guys!" Derek called out. "Come on. I just told you no more karate."

"We're not playin' karate," Matthew stated as he stood next to his brother. "We're playin' ninjas now!"

"I'm sorry," Derek whispered into Meredith's ear as he went to enter the room.

She tugged on his shirt and stopped him. "I got it," she said as she moved past him and went over to the shattered glass.

Derek nodded. "Thanks." He ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. "Okay… I'm going to go say goodbye to Beth. And you two," he directed the boys, "no more… ninjas, either. I want the two of you to behave. No more fighting. Even fake fighting. Got it?"

They both nodded. "Got it," they said in unison; smiling.

"Good." Derek looked once more over to Meredith, who was bent down on her knees, with her back towards him. He sighed to himself and went to the kitchen.

Meredith saw him leave from the corner of her eye as she picked up another shard of glass off the floor. She stopped when he was gone a let out a sigh herself. The tension she was feeling didn't leave, though. She still felt like he was right there. Like he was standing over her. Or… someone.

_Wait. _

"Who's in the picture?"

Meredith looked up.

_Not Derek. _

"What…" she replied, rather stunned to see twin number one standing there next to her.

The boy pointed to the photo behind the broken glass and Meredith looked back down at it.

"Oh, umm. Well," she quickly looked back at the boy, only to find his eyes fixed on the picture. "This," she continued, looking down, "this. This is my mom. And, um, my dad. And. And me. A long time ago."

Meredith stared at the picture. It wasn't one of her favorites, but she liked how she looked with her parents in it. Meredith was three, wearing a little pink sundress, and smiling brightly as she sat in front of her father on the steps leading up to their home. Her mother sat next to her father. They both had a fake smile plastered across their faces. They were trying. But Meredith could tell only her smile was true.

She was a child. She had no idea what her parents were going through. They tried their best to at least look pleasant, though.

She liked the picture because at least she was happy in it. It was before Her father left. Before her mother became fierce. Before she was old enough to realize what was going on.

"Sorry we broke it," twin number two said from the other side of her.

Her mother did the best she could raising her. Her mother wasn't exactly a kid person. Half the time, she didn't know what she was doing. And the other half, she wasn't even there. But she did the best she could. She tried…

"It was already broken," Meredith murmured as she looked up at the boys. They both stood there, like they were waiting for her to yell and punish them or something. "It's really okay, guys," she reassured them. "No more games where you have to kick each other, though, okay?"

"Okay," they both said smiling. Twin number two ran off to one of their bags and pulled out a toy truck. Twin number one quickly followed.

Meredith picked up the last couple pieces of glass and placed them on the broken frame. She was about to put it on the end table where it originally was, then decided against it. If the boys knocked it off once, they could easily do it again. She stood to her feet, broken frame in hand, and stared down at the picture one more time.

She wasn't a kid person. She didn't know how to do the kid _thing_. Her mother tried. But it wasn't enough. Meredith knew even less then what her mother did. How was she supposed to watch these kids? Derek knew what he was doing. He was supposed to be the one to do it- the kid thing. She was just going to watch.

But now she had to do it.

And she didn't know how.

"Hey."

Meredith turned around to see Derek hovering in the entryway.

"Hey," she said in return.

Derek walked over to her, took the frame from her hands, and looked at the picture.

"It's no big deal," she said taking it back. "Don't. Don't yell at them. Okay? I can always get a new frame."

Derek nodded to her. "Okay." He tried to look her in the eyes, but her focus couldn't be broken from the picture in her hands. "I should get going," he added somewhat dolefully. "I told the chief I could be there before ten."

When she didn't look up, he kissed her on the forehead.

Meredith closed her eyes and took in his scent. Took in his touch. Took in the fact of him being there. With her.

Derek pulled away and moved to the boys, who were now playing nicely with each other on the couch.

At his sudden departure, Meredith felt cold. She felt alone. Her eyes followed him as he got down to the eye level of the kids.

_No. I can't. _

"Alright, boys," Derek started. "I have to go to work now. Remember what I told you?"

They both nodded. "Be good and listen to what Aunt Meredith says," Matthew added.

"And…"

"And don't cause trouble!" they both yelled ecstatically, Robbie giggling after.

"Any _more _trouble," Derek said with a laugh.

_Screw it. _

"No. I changed my mind. You can't go," Meredith blurted out before she could stop herself.

"What?" Derek asked, completely puzzled by her sudden change in demeanor. "Mered-"

"You can't go. I can't. I. This. The whole thing…" she started rambling.

Derek jumped to his feet and pulled her back into the hall.

"Derek. It's too much. I know, okay. I know you have to go. I get it. But. No. You can't. Because I can't.

"Meredith."

"I can't Derek. The kid thing. The whole…. I'm my mother. I can't," she continued, shaking her head.

"Mer, calm down."

"The coloring. And… babies. And the kicking. The kicking, Derek. I can't tell them apart."

"What?" Derek asked as the confusion of her rambling set in.

Meredith took a deep breath. "The twins. The boys. How do you tell them apart?"

Derek smiled at her. "Is that all you're worried about?"

"Yes!" Meredith looked away for a moment. "Well, no. But. How do you tell them apart?" she asked again.

"Seriously?" Derek chuckled.

Meredith looked him in the eyes, no smile in sight. "Yes."

Derek stopped laughing. Or tried to, rather. He nodded his head. "Alright." He scratched his head, thinking.

"Well," Meredith said after a moment.

"Okay," he said. "Robbie has a dark freckle above his left eye. Matthew is a bit shorter. Not by much, quarter of an inch maybe."

Meredith stood stunned. "That's it?"

"Well, Robbie likes to add an extra "e. d." on to words. And Matthew usually loses the "g", he quipped.

"Seriously? So what… I'm supposed to ask them a bunch of stuff until they end a word with "ed" or "ing"? She asked sarcastically.

"Or you could just ask who is who", he said with a smile.

Meredith tilted her head with a fake smile. "You're not helping."

"Meredith. Calm down."

"I am calm."

"No. You're not."

She took another deep breath.

"You will do fine," he tried to reassure her. "Beth is low maintenance. You should already know that. Leah is pretty easy going, too. The boys…" He lingered on that one. "The boys use their imaginations. A lot."

"I can't tell them apart."

"You will. It just… takes time."

"I know nothing about babies."

"Meredith…"

"My hand. It's all cramped up from the coloring."

"You're running out of excuses. And I have to leave." Derek smiled softly as he walked past her and grabbed his jacket by the door. "I'll try to be back as soon as I can."

Meredith's eyes lit up. "Kathy!" She quickly turned around to face him. "What would Kathy say about you leaving me with the kids? Alone. Alone with the kids!"

"That's not going to work." He put on his jacket. "I trust you. She trusts my judgment," he said, then kissed her on the cheek and headed quickly out the door. He smiled to her as he closed it behind him.

"I don't!" Meredith called out after him.

But he was gone.

She signed deeply and ran her free hand through her hair.

There she was. Holding her worst fear in her hands. And now she had to face it. And the one person she wanted there to help her through it just walked out of the door.

Meredith turned around and found Beth standing there in front of her. She looked into the living room; both boys were sitting on the couch staring, and Leah from her playpen. She looked back at Beth.

"Hi."

That was all she could say.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so I lied about the "soon" part. My apologies for the gap in updates... again. My classes seem to be pain in the butt and like to take up all my free time. I write when I can (which isn't that often) but I will keep updating. No worries : ) Thanks for the awesome amount of reviews on the last part. Seriously. I was SHOCKED. Congrats to Kilikina1 for guessing right about our Derek. And thanks to MissRe for giving me the idea to actually _have_ the boys break something. lol. Your reviews mean the world to me. They keep me going. And keep me happy. : ) lol. Keep 'em coming! **


	8. Chapter 8

"So he just left you there."

"Yes."

"Alone with the brats."

"Yes." Meredith moved the receiver closer to her mouth. "What am I going to do?"

"You're asking me?"

"Cristina," Meredith said sternly.

"What? Meredith, I know as much as you about offspring. Probably less," Cristina said through the phone.

Meredith rolled her eyes, but remained silent on her end. She let out a sigh and took a few steps down the stairs, gripping the railing as if she would tumble to her face without it.

Small voices and laughter came rolling through the house.

Meredith froze. She couldn't pinpoint the location of the sound, it practically echoed throughout the downstairs.

So she stopped. And she sat down on the stairs.

After a moment, Meredith shifted the receiver to her other ear and leaned forward, trying to peek through the rails.

"Is he there yet?" she said to Cristina in a hushed tone.

"Not yet. He's supposed to have a surgery in forty minutes. I'm scrubbing in," she added gleefully before demanding, "Why are you whispering?"

"I'm hiding."

"Where are they?"

Meredith ran her free hand through a section of her hair. "I don't know," she replied softly, closing her eyes.

"Okay. I know I said I wasn't an expert on this stuff, but isn't the point of watching children to… I don't know… watch them? Maybe?"

Meredith let out a puff of air and her eyes flicked open in frustration. "I don't know where they are because they're everywhere, Cristina. I can hear them. Everywhere."

"How many?"

Meredith sighed again.

"Four," she spat out. "Twin boys, might I add. Very hyper, rather destructive, twin boys. And their older sister. And a baby. Twin boys, and a baby, Cristina"

Cristina scoffed on her end of the phone. "How old?"

Meredith felt her eyes widen as a sudden feeling of unknowing came over her like a title wave. "Oh God," she started, "I have no idea."

She had been around them all morning. She tried her best to be friendly, or at least be kind towards them. Humor them whenever possible. Try to listen to them, participate back. But she had Derek there to back her up, to take over if she couldn't handle it. She could run and hide and let him take control. She didn't need to know the details about the kids. She knew there were four of them, two girls, two boys- twins, and that was all she needed to know. At the end of the day they would be relinquished back to their mother. And as long as there were four of them to give, what else would matter?

That is, until Derek left her to fend for herself.

Now everything mattered.

Every little detail mattered.

She knew nothing about them. She got the idea that Beth liked to color. From spending very little time with her, Meredith guessed she was smart, caring. She got the hint that Beth was bright for her age. What was her age, though? What grade was she in at school? Why wasn't she running off energy like her brothers, instead of being the calm, collected, easy going one? And those boys…

They sure did have that energy to burn…

But she knew nothing about them. Only that they liked to… well, break her stuff. And they liked to pretend; play make-believe. But they were small… maybe five… years old? Maybe less? And Leah was definitely less.

But, how less…?

_Oh, God. _

She may not know where all the kids were, but she knew where Leah was. She left her in her playpen.

"Crap."

At the sudden thought of something horrible happening to the baby, Meredith stood from her post on the stairs and hurriedly descended towards the bottom.

She didn't know how old the kid was. And she was alone, in her playpen, with a crap load of toys that she could choke on. Maybe…

Meredith's foot hit the base and she dashed through the hall into the living room.

Leah was sitting up in her playpen, toys sprawled everywhere around her. When she caught sight of Meredith, Leah climbed on her tiptoes, reaching an arm out in an attempt at attention.

"What?" Cristina asked in her usual dry-like tone through the receiver.

Meredith reached her hand into the playpen and sifted through the toys before gathering a few of the stuffed animals. She examined each one, making sure the eyes… and nose… and whatever else that could possibly be eaten by an infant were still intact. She breathed a sigh of reassurance when she found the stuffed animals didn't have anything like that, but instead each had little "X" stitches embroidered on them, representing the face.

Meredith dropped them all back in, except for a stuffed dog. She turned the animal over in her hands and scanned the tag that was attached to it. When she found the information she was looking for, she let out a breath, completely relieved.

Ages six months and up.

Meredith placed the dog back into the playpen and Leah automatically went for it, taking it in her small hands.

"Nothing," she finally said to Cristina. "It's… Never mind." She sat on the floor crossed legged in front of Leah's playpen. "There are toys… and age requirement… things. I didn't want her to eat an eye or something."

"Okay…" Cristina drug out the word, not quite sure as to what _that_ meant.

Meredith dropped her shoulders, knowing an explanation to her friend was necessary. "The stuffed animals," she began, "they usually have eyes, and nose, made out of… I don't know. A button. Or something. Some kind of plastic, resin, crap, thing. Kids eat that stuff. You turn your back, and they eat that stuff. And then they choke."

"So…"

"Her stuffed animals don't have anything like that. The faces are stitched into the fabric. Plus, the tag says six months and up. She's definitely older than six months. So... Good. We're good."

Cristina kept silent for a moment before stating, "She could probably choke on the tag, you know."

Meredith's eyes widened at Cristina's observation. She quickly got to her feet and reached back in to retrieve the toy.

Leah sat silent as Meredith pulled it from her grasp and immediately ripped the tag off in one swift tear. She handed the toy back to Leah as if nothing had happened and peered at the others, making sure they were all without tags.

"Alright," she said, running a hand through her hair. She watched as Leah shoved a part of the stuffed dog into her mouth. Meredith scrunched up her nose in disgust at the now drool covered toy, making a mental note not to touch that one again. "Now we're good," she said to Cristina as she turned away from the playpen.

Meredith froze at the sight she saw behind her. "Hi."

The boys giggled from the their position, peeking over the back of the couch.

Both of them.

Watching her.

"Ummm…" Meredith stammered. She turned back around, away from the boys. "Cristina," she breathed into the phone. "They're looking at me."

"What?" Cristina asked in return.

"How do I… They… I have to distract them or something." She glanced over her shoulder to confirm. "Why are they watching me?"

She heard Cristina trying to hold back a chuckle.

"Cristina," she snapped, "This is not funny. What should I do?"

Cristina didn't respond, but she did let her laughter subside.

"Oh!" Meredith said as the light bulb went on. "Hold on," she said as she put the phone down on an end table and slowly turned around to the boys.

"Umm... ah... Cartoons? she asked, pointing to the TV. Meredith walked past them and moved to the television set. Kneeling in front of it, she turned it on and started flipping through the channels. She flinched slightly as she noticed one of the boys was now sitting next to her. "You…" she started as she glanced over to the child. "You guys like cartoons, right? You watch them?" She flipped through the channels some more.

The boy nodded, gazing at the TV. "Momma lets us watch them on the weekends." He laughed softly. "Daddy lets us watch them whenever."

Meredith nodded in return. She then glanced over and saw a small mark above his eye.

_Freckle…_

"Robbie…?

He turned his head in her direction.

"Umm… Is… Is this station… good? she asked, trying to cover her tracks.

"Un huh," Robbie said, turning his attention back to the screen.

Meredith looked down at her lap, trying hard not to smile.

She got one right. She was able to tell them apart. Sure, it was only because of tip Derek gave her earlier, but that didn't matter.

The point was she knew Robbie was sitting next to her. Which meant Matthew was…

Matthew was…

Meredith turned her head around.

Nothing.

"Where's your brother?" Meredith asked Robbie.

He turned and looked at her, but didn't say a word, only shrugged.

Meredith got to her feet and walked around to the other side of the couch.

Nothing, only Leah in her playpen.

She looked around the room, but didn't see the little boy anywhere.

"Cristina…" she said to herself. She moved to go pick up the phone, only to find it missing as well.

"Oh…." she said aloud, putting the connection together. "CRAP."

Meredith quickly vacated the living room. "Matthew?" She called out his name.

Nothing.

She rested her hands on her hips and took a deep breath, trying to ease her frustration. She was about to go check back on Robbie when the soft squeak of a chair sliding across the kitchen floor caught her attention.

Meredith was standing in the doorway, looking in, within a flat second.

"But, why?" She heard come from the other side of the island. The refrigerator door was open. Beth was sitting at the island, still coloring away, having no regard to what was going on.

"But, _whyyyy?_"

Meredith looked across the room at the open fridge door. She saw the top of a head, then a tiny hand reach up inside after something. The other tiny hand was busy clutching a phone against his ear.

What possessed him to talk to Cristina?

"Um. Matthew..." She moved into the kitchen and stood over Matthew.

The little boy looked up at her and smiled. "Sorry," he apologized. "I got thirsty."

Meredith tilted her head. "Oh," she said, once se realized he meant about him being in the refrigerator, not taking the phone. "That's okay." Meredith looked at the shelves, trying to find something that would be suitable for him.

She was about to give up when one of Izzie's Minute Made lemonade pouches caught her attention from the far back of the almost-empty fridge. She reached in and gripped it in her hand.

"Trade you for the phone," she offered, smirking at him.

The corner of his lip curled up as he pondered the proposal. "Okay," he said cheerfully as they swapped.

"Good," Meredith nodded. "Your brother is watching cartoons," she added.

Matthew's eyes lit up. "Can I watch, too?"

_Thank you…_

"Yeah, go." She swooshed her hands for him to go and smiled as he took off and practically sprinted from the room. She put the receiver back to her ear. "Cristina?"

"Oh, thank God," was all Meredith heard. "What the hell was that?"

"_That,_" Meredith started as she grabbed one of the lemonade pouches for herself, "was one of the twins."

"He kept asking me about which superhero I liked more; Spiderman or Batman. And _apparently_," she deepened her voice, "I said the wrong one because then he went all apeshit on me about WHY I liked that one more."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit?"

"No." Cristina growled into the phone. "God. I won't be able to take it. They're kids. Kids are… Satanic."

Meredith lowered her voice. "They're not… _satanic. _They're just… They're…" She stopped when she noticed Beth was in earshot. "Hold on." She moved the phone away form her mouth and spoke at her normal tone. "Beth," she said, gaining the little girls attention. "Do you want to watch cartoons, too?" She waved her lemonade pouch in front of her. "Maybe a drink?"

Beth shook her head. "No thanks. I'm okay," she replied as she continued coloring.

Meredith bit her lip, thinking.

"Tell her to leave," Cristina said dryly, eavesdropping over the conversation.

Meredith kept voice low. "I can't tell her to leave."

"I'll tell her to leave. Put her on the phone."

"Cristina!"

She winced at the volume of her own voice. She looked up at Beth, who was staring blankly back at her. Meredith shook her head and gave her half a smile. "You're. You're doing really great. At that." As she made a rush for the exit, she looked back at Beth. "Keep up the good work!" she called after as she went through the door.

"Coward."

Meredith dropped her shoulders. "Well. She was there first."

"It's your house, Meredith. Put them in a corner or something."

"These kids, they're… They're not being bad, Cristina. They're just…" She rounded the corner and heard the commotion coming from the living room. She moved further down the hall and peeked past the entryway.

Within the time Meredith had left the boys, they had managed cover the living room with trucks and cars and games. Everything and anything a little boy might want, these kids had.

And they had it sprawled all over.

The boys were running the cars over one another making engine noises and fake crying noises, and laughing in between.

Meredith took in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "They're just everywhere."

As soon as Derek had left her, she thought the world stopped.

Literally.

She turned around to four tiny little people staring back at her, unmoving. Every one of them knew Derek was leaving. Everyone knew he was going to go. But Meredith didn't actually _think_ he was going to go.

He was Derek, after all.

He loved his nieces and nephews. He loved Meredith. He wanted to spend time with them more than anyone. They were his family.

But the hospital was his family, too. For as much as he cared for Meredith and the kids, he cared for the lives of his patients.

They needed him to be there.

He was Dr. Shepherd, after all.

And he had to go.

So there she was… Left with four kids under the age of… Oh, that's right, she had no idea.

By some miraculous means of hope, she had managed to convince Beth to go back to coloring and told the boys to go on playing. Told them not to worry, she had everything under control.

Then she had fleeted up the stairs and tried to hide out in her room. After a few moments in there, however, she realized it wasn't going to help and she resorting with calling Cristina.

Not that that proved to be much help either. But. It was worth a shot…

Now she was stuck watching four kids she knew nothing about.

Because Derek was gone.

And she was alone.

Meredith's anger grew as she remembered the way Derek had left her. That he _had_ left her.

She didn't even have a choice. In anything.

Okay… well she did.

Sort of.

He gave her an out. Before the kids got there, before he told Kathy it was alright. He gave her an out, and she didn't take it. The last thing on her mind, though, was Derek getting called in to work. Had she known that was going to happen, she would have told Derek no way. Had Derek known that was going to happen, he would have never even brought it up.

That wasn't their plan for the day. None of this was. She was off. He was on-call… but he wasn't supposed to get called in. End of story. That's it.

And there was no mention of babysitting during the previous night activities.

How could she take an "out" when she had no idea of the events she would be getting into?

Meredith clenched her jaw and backed away from the entryway just as Leah caught glimpse of her. She moved to the bottom of the stairs and began to climb them. She pressed the phone harder against her ear. "Do you know what I was planning on doing today?"

"Having a remotely interesting conversation over the phone?" Cristina replied harshly.

Meredith settled down halfway up the stairs. "I was planning on doing nothing," she said, choosing to ignore her friend's comment. "Nothing but spend my day in bed. With Derek. And I mean that in the dirtiest way possible."

"And thank you for that image."

"They're everywhere, Cristina," she began, peaking through the rails. "They do things, and they make noise, and they break things, and they stare."

At that moment, one of the boys, laughing, ran from the living room, through the hall, and into the kitchen.

Meredith shook her head, realizing she couldn't get out of this. That there was no way to get out of this. "I can't hide," she continued, "I can't get away. But he did, he left me. He just sprung this on me. And then he left." Meredith stopped and sucked in a breath.

"Well, when you put it like that, can you blame him?"

"Cristina!" the annoyance grew in her voice, "They called me Aunt Meredith."

"Well, you kind of are."

Meredith's jaw dropped. "I. Am. Not."

"You' guys are all flirty and twirly with each other. Face it. What's his is yours." Cristina smirked on her end of the phone. "They're your family now."

"Well, _that_ doesn't make it any easier. I can't do this alone." She paused. "I can't do this at all."

"Yeah…" Cristina drug out the word before quickly adding, "I have to go."

Meredith's eyes widened in horror. "What!?"

"Shepherd just gave me a death glare when he passed me. I have to go scrub in."

Meredith's expression and tone remained the same. "Put him on the phone!" she demanded.

"Mer, he's already gone. Just… Call him later or something."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Meredith remained speechless.

_We'll see who's all twirly and flirty after this day. _

Cristina cleared her throat on the other line.

"Trade lives with me?" pleaded Meredith.

Cristina scoffed. "In your dreams."

"Fine," Meredith groaned. "Go. Cut open your gory… bloody guy. Or whatever."

"Meredith, all you have to do is keep them alive, and you'll be set."

Meredith heard something crash onto the kitchen floor. She closed her eyes tight and turned away from the noise.

_Easy for you to say…_

An ample amount of laughter soon followed, and the twin who remained in the living room went running down the hall, smiling, towards the excitement.

"Yeah, well" Meredith said into the phone. "I'll try my best."

And with that, Meredith hung up from Cristina and headed for the kitchen. Seeing as how she just told Cristina she would keep them breathing, she thought it best to make sure they were doing just that.

"What's going on in here?" she asked softly as she entered the room.

Beth was bent towards the floor, lifting the barstool from the ground as it appeared to have been knocked over. "Matthew wanted to show me something and he tried to climb up the side on the chair, but it fell over on him." She laughed lightly. "It was pretty funny."

The boys stood flanking Beth, laughing along with her.

Meredith smiled, thankful that her statement to Cristina was still intact.

"Can we go to the park soon?" Asked one of the twins as the laughter subsided.

"The what?" spat Meredith.

The questioning twin wiped at his eyes. "The park," he restated, "Uncle Derek told us we could go to it today. No more cartoons are on. Can we go soon?" he asked again.

Meredith ran a hand through her hair. "Oh. I, aaa…"

"Oh, please?" Beth asked, looking up with hopeful eyes.

_The park…_

Meredith broke the stare. She couldn't take them to the park. Take them out of the house? She'd probably lose them. It was hard enough here in the house... And Leah was only a baby… and… She couldn't…

The three kids looked up at their Aunt Meredith. Begging.

And then they did it.

They gave her the lip.

Meredith's heart sunk. She did feel bad for them; they really didn't have much to do. They did bring a ton of stuff with them, but they couldn't sit in the living room and play with that all day… The park. It was only two blocks away. Close enough where she wouldn't have to drive them anywhere; they could walk. And it was relatively warm, if you dressed right.

_Maybe… Maybe they'll blow off all their energy._

They could play. Blow off some steam. Give Meredith a few moments to actually let the day sink in. Try to plan out the rest of it. She was stuck with them for…. Well… A while, she guessed. If she was cooped up in the house with them all day, she may very well go insane.

Maybe the park was a good idea.

Meredith nodded her head slowly. "Okay." It came out as almost a whisper, but the children head it clear as day.

"YAY!!" they all screamed in unison.

She winced as the sound pierced her eardrums. The kids started jumping around and ran quickly from the kitchen, continuing to cheer along the way.

Meredith whimpered to herself as she sauntered over to the island and sat down on one of the barstools. She dropped her head onto the closed Hello Kitty coloring book that lay there in front of her and slowly started banging her forehead against the surface.

BAM. _It's his fault. _BAM. _This whole freaking thing, _BAM, _is all his fault. _BAM.

"Owww," Meredith groaned as she lay there, not moving, letting Hello Kitty's plastic cover cool her now hot forehead. Without looking, she began to dial a number on the phone she still had clenched in her hands. She placed the phone to her ear, and waited.

"Cristina," Meredith said ever so calmly to her voicemail. "When you get a chance, do me a favor and… I don't know." Meredith shrugged her shoulders. "Kick him… or something."

She hung up the phone, dropped it on the counter, and smacked her head a few more times before deciding to go get ready.

To go to the park.

* * *

**A/N: OK, I had this part ready to go yesterday afternoon and FF decided to be mean and not let me post. sigh It's pretty much been the week from hell... er... weeks, rather. I won't bore you all with the annoying details, but lets just say... CLASSES BLOW. All right. I'm done being moody now. And I forgive FF because, although I tried for seven hours to post yesterday, it let me today. So, yay. :) Anyway, hope you liked the part. Reviews are wonderful and awesome and they keep me going. :) So bring 'em on! lol. **


	9. Chapter 9

_Okay… Okay, I can do this. _

Meredith placed her hands on opposite sides of the closed stroller and pulled as hard as she could. Again. And still, nothing happened.

She groaned as she sat down on the bottom step of the staircase to get a better view of the stroller resting in front of her. Refusing to give up, she grabbed it from a different angle and tugged for a fourth time. She tightened her grip, got to her feet and practically climbed onto the stroller. With all of her strength, Meredith pushed the sides in every direction possible. But still…

Nothing happened.

"You. Will. Open!" she growled to herself through gritted teeth.

She knelt on top of the stroller, with her death grip still intact and shook the thing for dear life. Finally, she realized that wasn't going to work. She shook her head in disbelief that she was fighting… With a stroller.

She sighed in disgust and thought of the picture she had painted of herself, had anyone seen her in her current state. As she started to climb off, her foot caught onto the side and she fell the two feet to the ground, using her hip to break her fall; the stroller following after, landing on top of her.

Meredith groaned again, more so from the pain, and shoved the stroller to the side. "What was that? Payback?" she mumbled as she sat up and rubbed her hip. She gave the stroller another push with her foot.

Sneakers squeaked against the wood floor, taking Meredith's attention away from the offensive stroller and onto the children present in the room.

The stroller started it, she thought about saying, but stopped herself once she remembered her audience consisted of three small children and with her luck, they'd take her literally. So instead she went with, "Everyone use the bathroom?"

They all frantically nodded their heads. Meredith locked eyes with one of the twins as his head abruptly stopped moving. She was about to question his reaction when the boy quickly turned around and rushed down the hall. "I gotta go again!" he yelled along the way.

"Okay then," she said while getting to her feet and replacing the stroller to its upright position. "You guys good?" she questioned the remaining kids.

"Can we gooooo now?" the waiting twin replied, ignoring her interrogation.

Meredith lifted the hem of her shirt and checked her hip to see if there was any evidence of the bruise she was sure would come. "You don't want to wait for your brother?" she asked the boy.

He frantically shook his head and started stomping up and down. "No. I wanna go now. I wanna plaaaaaay!"

Meredith cringed at the whining. He knew they were going to go; yet he was still fighting _to go_. He was just being so difficult.

She tried to shrug it off. _He's just excited, _she thought. _That's all_…

"Why don't you guys put your jackets on, I'll get Leah, and by that time your brother will be back and we can all go."

_That ought to distract him._

"I don't want to wear a jacket!"

_Yeah... Maybe not._

"You have to wear a jacket, it's cold outside."

"PIRATES DON'T WEAR JACKETS!"

_Pirates?_

Meredith looked down at the boy's attire, noticing for the first time that he was wearing a red cummerbund around his waste with a sword slung through it and a black three pointed hat gripped in his small hands.

"So, you… you're a pirate now?"

He never had to answer. The expression of "duh" was written all over his face.

"Right," she nodded quietly. "Okay…" She was trying to stall until she could come up with some way to make him put his coat on.

Beth beat her to it.

"Robbie," she said to her brother, "why don't you put your green sweater on instead? You could put it on first, your sword would be on the outside and you could still be a pirate."

Meredith looked back and forth between the kids. Stunned.

"Okay," Robbie happily replied nodding his head in agreement. He walked over to one of the bags in the hall and began digging through it.

Stunned… Meredith was stunned. She locked eyes with Beth. "Thanks."

"Yep," Beth replied as she moved past Meredith and dropped to her knees behind the stroller.

Following her actions, Meredith watched as the young girl put her hand under the stroller, clicked something, and let it magically unfold.

Stunned.

"Momma said it's a safety lock," she said to Meredith, "so we don't get our fingers pinched." With that, Beth got up from the floor and got her jacket off the coat hook on the wall.

"Thanks," mumbled Meredith, still in shock.

It wore off quickly, though, as Matthew came hurdling down the hall at warped speed. He plowed into Robbie, causing them both to collide with the floor.

Meredith braced herself for the fight she saw coming.

…But it didn't come.

Robbie laughed hysterically as Matthew stood and helped him to his feet, laughing as well.

_That can not be the same kid…_, Meredith thought.

"Can we go to the park now?" Robbie asked.

_Yeah. Never mind. _

"Let me grab Leah, then we can go." She paused for a moment, looking at the identical costumes the twins were wearing. "Matthew, will you put your jacket on?" She sucked in a breath, dreading having to ask that again.

"Okay," the child replied cheerfully.

Meredith's eyes widened. "Seriously?" She didn't' mean to say it with the tone of surprise, but the shock value was back again. Either no one heard her or they simply didn't care, though, because Matthew walked over to Beth, who helped put his jacket on.

Standing in front of her now were three anxious children, dressed, ready, and waiting to go to the park like their Aunt Meredith said they would.

She bit her bottom lip. Stunned.

"I'll go get Leah," she quietly told them and departed down the hall towards the living room where the last child remained.

She looked back over her shoulder once and saw one of the twins… _Err… Matthew_, sitting on the ground fixing the Velcro on his shoes.

"What the hell was that?" she wondered aloud.

If that little episode was any indication of what the rest of her day would be like…

She closed her eyes and sighed. When she reopened them, she found herself looking down into Leah's big brown eyes.

Leah was standing in her playpen, gripping the edge with one arm as she extended the other up towards Meredith.

"I thought your brother was going to go postal on me," she muttered to the child.

Meredith rubbed the back of her neck. There was no reason to put off going to the park. That would only make the children more crazy then they were already.

Leah tilted her head to the side, watching everything. Her shaggy blonde hair, which was tied up into pigtails, followed the direction of gravity wherever she moved.

Meredith finally took notice as Leah gripped tightly onto the rim of the playpen and began to bounce in place, causing the little sprouts of pigtails to dance on top of her head.

She reached in to grab Leah, but stopped, slightly taken aback.

The French rose OshKosh overalls Leah wore were now partnered with a cream colored jacket.

"I didn't do that," she said to herself. Meredith stared at Leah, awestruck. When she put her in the playpen, Leah only wore the overalls with a long sleeved shirt hugging her underneath it. _And socks…_

Meredith looked down, realizing the child now also had sneakers on. Her forehead scrunched together, trying to figure out… "How did you do that?" she asked the child.

Her shoulders dropped and the feeling of shock subsided. "Beth," she sighed, "Okay." Meredith nodded and put her hands on her hips. She glanced towards the hall, hearing the commotion from the kids and quickly refocused on Leah.

"Okay," she said again as she took her in her arms. "Let's get going before they all decide to go crazy."

Leah made no motions, just looked on.

"Good. Agreed then."

Meredith carried Leah to the door where the other children were anxiously waiting their return.

"Can we go noooooow?" one of the twins asked, holding a bag full of toys.

"Yes," Meredith nodded. "We can go now."

She winced as the shrill of the children cheering took to her ears.

"Yeah, yeah," she said in a hurry, "let's go."

As the kids piled out through the door, Meredith strayed behind. She shifted Leah to her opposite arm and with her free hand flung Leah's diaper bag over her shoulder. She grabbed the stroller and lugged it behind her.

Meredith got about two feet out the door before the diaper bag decided to slip from her shoulder and its contents fell to the ground.

"Crap," Meredith sighed. "Okay…"

She stood Leah on the floor and began to clean up the mess, shoving item after item forcefully into the bag.

The sound of the children's voices slowly started to fade, gripping Meredith's attention. She jumped up and peered into the yard. "Hey!" she called out after them.

The kids, who had made their way onto the sidewalk, looked the twenty feet back at Meredith.

"Guys, don't go any farther! You know what," she second guessed her blunt demand, "come back into the yard."

Meredith pushed the stroller closer to the walkway, grabbed the diaper bag and sat it on top, before returning to the children. "We can leave in a second, I promise, just let me grab my –"

The door slammed behind her, cutting her off.

Meredith whipped around to face the house. "Keys."

She instinctively tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Crap," she said under her breath.

_Great. This is just what I need_..._Locked out with a ton load of stuff and three kids who want to run away. _

…_Wait._

_THREE?_

"Crap!"

She peered down through the glass door and saw Leah there, standing on the other side.

"Leah, open the door."

The only response that came from the other side was the sound of muffled giggles.

Meredith smiled brightly to the child. "Leah," she said calmly, "open the door, okay?"

Leah's head tilted the side.

"What am I saying?" Meredith stopped begging as she realized she was trying to convince an infant to unlock a door that she would never be able to reach, let alone comprehend actually unlocking it.

_Okay, okay… Think…_

"Oh! Okay." She pointed her finger at Leah, "Don't move."

Meredith rushed down the walkway and moved towards the second entrance at the front of the house, only to find that it was locked as well.

She slapped her hand on her thigh, frustrated. "Seriously? The one time the doors are all locked."

As if a light bulb went off in her head, Meredith realized that _all_the doors hadn't been checked.

The children watched from the yard as Meredith rounded the corner again towards the side of the house, passed it, and moved through the brush at the back of the house.

When she reached the laundry room, the remainder of hope she had was ripped from her.

It was locked, too.

Meredith let out a small groan in disgust. "This can NOT be happening."

A whole flush of thoughts entered her head. She would have to call… someone. Who had an extra key? Well, obviously Izzie did. And Alex… But they were both at work, as was Derek…

_Oh crap. Derek._

How was she supposed to explain this to Derek? Call him up, 'Oh, hey, how's the surgery going? What are we doing? Oh, well, your infant niece is locked in the house and we're all outside, you know, chilling and stuff.'

"Crrrrap." Meredith cried out. She smacked the palm of her hand against the door, trying desperately to will it to open with no such luck.

One way or another, though, she had to get in there.

Meredith turned to the window next to it. Expecting it to be locked as well, she planned on trying to punch in the glass and go from there. However, just by glancing at it, she realized she'd never be strong enough to do it.

She scrunched up her nose, deciding to keep that effort as a last resort and went with her first thought of seeing if it was actually unlocked.

She gave it a huge tug upwards and surprisingly enough it opened a crack.

Her eyes lit up in hope as she slid both hands between the frame and the sill and pushed.

With a good amount of force, she got it open almost twelve inches before it decided to stick.

Meredith knew she would never fit through the opening. She was small, but the window's gap was still too short and the width of it wasn't wide enough for her to maneuver through. So instead, she reached in with her upper body and worked on trying to get the door open.

She stretched her arm in through the window and tried to figure out the lock on the door.

The door is rarely used by anyone. And of course… it's locked. It's locked…

"With the freaking deadbolt?!"

Meredith retracted her arm from the door, knowing she'd never get it open now. Deadbolt. The deadbolt required a key – from the inside. Her one chance of getting in was shattered all due to the freaking deadbolt.

She leaned over the window and rested her head against the inside wall. "I can't call Derek."

_I wonder…_

Meredith picked up her head. "Leah!" she yelled through the room. If there was the slightest chance the baby would hear her name, maybe she'd come in there. Then all Meredith would have to do is grab her. "LEAH!" she yelled again.

"What you doin'?"

At the sudden questioning coming from behind her, Meredith lifted her head in a hurry, smacking it hard against the frame as she pulled herself out.

As she attempted to ignore the pain that was forming in her head, she tried to focus on the small boy standing in front of her. "Your sister is locked in the house."

"Oh," the boy said like it was no big deal, happened every day. "Can we go to the park?"

Meredith bit her lip. _Seriously…?_

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax. She didn't want to yell at him, but this was a big deal. Meredith was sure Leah was fine, that she would be fine even if she were stuck in the house alone for a while, but she didn't want to have to call Derek. She was really hoping that factor could be avoided. But she couldn't think. She couldn't get the door open, and she couldn't get inside…

"We can go to the park after we get your sister out of the house."

"How come you don't open the door?"

Meredith ran a hand through her hair and settled it on the bulge of throbbing pain. "Because it's locked," she spat out.

_Wait…_

Her eyes shot open.

"You're little."

The boy stood there, unmoving.

"You want to go to the park?"

He nodded his head.

"I need your help then. Come here."

The boy did as he was told and went to Meredith's side. She squatted to meet his eye level.

"Okay. Your sister decided it would be funny if I had to call your Uncle Derek and pull him from surgery to come home, so she thought she would play a joke on me," she half told the truth," but the thing is, your uncle will think I did it on purpose, to get him home. Which I didn't. At all. And I'm handling this." She took a breath. "I can handle this. But Derek… he would never let me live it down."

The kid tilted his head to the side, much in the same way Leah did when she was trying to figure out what the adults were talking about. And Meredith wondered for a moment if he was even paying attention, kind of hoping he tuned out her rambling.

"I need you to climb through the window and go open the door for me, okay?"

He blinked. Blinked again. Stared at her like she was crazy, and he didn't move.

Meredith sighed. "I'll give you five bucks."

"Okay," he causally replied and moved past Meredith to the open window.

"Okay," Meredith echoed, shaking her head. She got to her feet and followed, standing behind the twin.

He began to pull himself up and Meredith boosted him from behind, helping him through and land safely on the other side. Meredith backed up a bit to make sure he was all right.

"You good?" she asked him.

"Yep."

"Okay. Okay, Good." Meredith backed away from the window. She pointed to the door in the back of the laundry room. "Kitchen is through there," she told him, "so just go out, through the kitchen, and I'll meet you at the side door. You know, the one we just went out?"

He nodded.

"All right. Now, go to the door and unlock it."

"Okay."

Meredith breathed in a sigh of relief as he disappeared into the kitchen. She pulled the window closed and quickly walked away, back to where she first started, rubbing the new bump on her head along the way.

"Ow," she groaned to herself as she rounded the corner back.

Beth and the second twin were sitting in the grass looking bored as ever.

"Are we EVER going to the park?" second twin asked.

Meredith glanced at the kids, but ignored the complaint. She walked up to the door and tried the knob.

Still locked.

She peaked in through the window, but Leah was nowhere in sight.

"Oh crap," Meredith said as she tried the knob once more. "Where is he? It shouldn't be taking him this long…" She started to knock on the door, hoping to get his attention. She was about to call out his name, but stopped herself when she realized she didn't know which twin she had been talking to. She was so freaked about leaving Leah in the house, it never occurred to her to pay attention to the other details of, say, whom the child is?

She took a shot.

"Robbie!" she called out.

"What?" came a questioning voice behind her.

Meredith turned around and faced the children. "Nothing," she said shaking her head. "Just… seeing if you're paying attention."

She swiftly turned back around and began banging on the door again.

"Matthew! Come open the door."

A few moments later, Meredith saw Matthew emerge from the kitchen with one of Leah's hands gripped in his own, the other holding a lemonade pouch.

Matthew unlocked the door and turned the knob.

Meredith pushed the door open and picked Leah up. "You okay?" she asked the infant.

Leah held the juice pouch with both hands and squeezed it, paying no attention Meredith and giving no indication that she was traumatized by any means.

"'Quishy," Leah giggled as she held up her new find for Meredith to see.

"She was crawlin' on the floor in the kitchen when I went in there. She wouldn't come with me so I got a drink from the fridgerator because she can squeeze it and she likes that." Matthew explained as he exited the house and sat with his siblings on the grass.

Meredith looked at Leah once more. She was fine. Happy. Perfectly content with her drink. "That's… That's good." She looked back at the kids.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to leave the house after all. They weren't even out the door and they had already had had a mishap. A pretty big mishap, to say the least. But…

The looks on their faces…

Saying "no" wasn't an option now.

"Okay. Lets go to the park…"

The children jumped to their feet, ready to finally get out of there and get to the park.

Meredith was about to shut the door, but quickly remembered her keys. Or lack there of, rather. With Leah in her arms, she entered the foyer and grabbed her set that was sitting on the table by the door. Meredith turned the lock, closed the door, and pushed the stroller, diaper bag, and Leah down the walkway to meet up with the rest of the kids.

* * *

**A/N: Just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews, keep 'em coming please ;) Also, thanks to everyone who is hanging in there with the annoying long breaks between updates. Classes are draining me and stealing the small amount of free time I do have. Hence the lack of time to write. More will come, though. I promise! **


	10. Chapter 10

Meredith sat down on the wooden bench and shut her eyes. She sighed deeply and slouched into a world of peaceful thoughts.

Wonderful.

Peaceful.

Thoughts.

That is, until the shrills of children laughing in the distance brought her back into reality. The reality, in which she had to look after, had to be responsible for, four small, very impatient, very terse children.

"Um. Wait--wait. I, ah. I feel like I need to make rules. Or something," she had said to Beth and the twins when they had first arrived at the park.

It had taken them thirty minutes to walk the short two blocks to the park. Beth kept getting sidetracked, talking about everything and anything she saw on the street, and Leah, who didn't want to be in the stroller, kept squirming about trying to break free. And as if that weren't enough to keep Meredith occupied, the boys kept running ahead and hiding behind shrubbery in the neighbor's yards. When Meredith would finally catch up to them, her mind was too distracted by the girls that she would practically leap from her skin when then jumped out in front her.

After attempting to keep tabs on them all, and actually get them there in one piece, Meredith became very aware of the fact that she would have to step up to the plate on this one. They were rambunctious, excited children who have been cooped up the past few days. They needed to blow off some energy, some steam, but she needed them to remain alive in the process. She would have to become the authority figure they would most definitely listen to. She had to set boundaries, it was the only thing she knew.

They had stared back at her, no expression in sight.

She nodded. "Yeah. Okay, rules. Rules are good." The problem was, however, she hadn't actually thought of any.

They had been ready to make a mad dash away and onto the jungle gym equipment, and the swings, and the monkey bars as soon as the park came into view. But Meredith had stopped them. They needed rules.

"Okay. Number one, no, ah, hitting. Or kicking. Each other or, well, anyone for that matter." She knew that the kicking thing had already been a problem this morning. If she could help it, she would try to avoid anything along those lines again. Anything… "Or biting. No biting either," she added as an afterthought. She never wanted to go down that path…

The boys took a step back, ready to run, but Meredith caught their actions from the corner of her eye and whipped her head towards them.

They froze.

The funny thing was, she was probably more scared then they were.

She didn't do the kid thing. How was she supposed to do the "kids need rules" thing? She had to give it a shot, though. She was already halfway there…

She took a deep breath.

_Focus… Rules… Okay, rules._

"Second: no running away from me. Or hiding. I need to see you guys at all times. So. Don't run off, and stay in sight…" She decided not to add that Derek would kill her if something were to happen to any of them. And if the boys were to have this knowledge, they would probably do something on purpose, just to freak her out.

Meredith looked one-by-one at each child. Their expressions remained blank and their eyes were glazed over from boredom. But she knew they heard her.

"Can we go now?" asked one of the twins.

They were getting antsy, and annoyed, and frankly… Meredith was too.

She waved her hands at them. "Yeah, go."

The kids took off running before she had even released the last syllable. She didn't care, though.

No. She didn't care… Because that bench felt like heaven on earth.

Meredith sat, unmoving, trying to ignore the noise in the distance and enjoy any peaceful wonderful thoughts that might come to mind.

The cheery laughter interrupted again and Meredith squished her eyes shut as tight as they would allow, willing her happy thoughts to emerge.

She shifted on the bench and let out a deep breath, but nothing seemed to help. She felt so overwhelmed by everything that her happy place appeared to be nonexistent. Her only thoughts were that of the children in her care.

Meredith peeked open her left eye, only a slit, to subtly glace at the playground. When she couldn't see all three of them, her eyelids snapped open in alarm and an ample amount of fear she hadn't expected struck her.

"Oh crap," she muttered to herself as she frantically peered straight ahead seeing only Beth in her eyeline, playing with other children on the jungle gym.

Within the moments it took to freak out, however, she hadn't thought to turn her head and look in another direction.

When her thought process finally kicked in, Meredith looked towards the swings, then found herself turning in the opposite direction to the sound of happy laughter. In the open field, the noise surfaced from children gathered together playing a game of soccer… or kickball… or something along those lines. And sure enough, there were the twins. Running, smiling, jumping up and down… doing the kid thing. And following Meredith's rules.

Even though the irking laughter interrupted her thoughts, she couldn't even be mad at them. They were in her sight; she just hadn't thought to look in that section of her sight. But they were kicking! A ball… actually, to other kids… not… _at_ them.

Meredith sighed in relief. They were good kids; trusting kids. Granted, she wasn't about to get up and leave them to fend for themselves, but it was nice to know she didn't have to glue her eyelids open and watch their every move.

Leah, on the other hand, was a different story.

Meredith shifted her eyes to the empty stroller next to her. "Leah?" she called out, surprised at the child's absence. She looked towards the ground at her feet: nothing. "Leah, come on!" she called out again as she felt her blood pressure rise. Meredith pressed a hand to her forehead and ran it through her hair as she stood and moved the stroller back, expecting her to be under it… or behind it… or…?

Meredith left the stroller be and looked to either side of the bench before climbing to her knees and looking behind it.

"Oh," she exhaled, "thank God." Meredith climbed over the back of the bench, not bothering to even go around it, and took the baby in her arms. "How the hell did you get out of the stroller?" She questioned the infant, knowing all she would get was a giggle intertwined with a smile as an answer.

Sure, she was scared for the safety of the baby, but she was also terrified on what Derek or Kathy might say on the matter.

"Let's just keep this one between us, okay?" she softly asked Leah who responded by dropping the handful of grass she had clenched in her hands onto Meredith's chest. "Okay," Meredith nodded, taking that as a yes.

Leah pushed the shredded grass around with her index finger before looking up into Meredith's eyes.

_What am I supposed to do with you? _Meredith thought.

She glanced around the park. Beth laughed as she ran around the jungle gym and Meredith fixed her eyes on her dark ringlets bouncing in the distance. She turned her direction back to Leah. "Come on."

Beth, who had just climbed up a latter, stood inside the jungle gym next to little girl with blond hair. They were visible to Meredith through the wooden slats and absent roof.

"Beth?" Meredith asked as she approached.

"This is my new friend, Kayla," Beth happily replied, sticking her head over the top of the slats and looking down towards Meredith.

Meredith gave a tight smile and nodded to the child in recognition. "Hi, Kayla." She shifted Leah to her opposite arm. "Beth, when your mom takes you to the park, what does she usually do with Leah?"

"Daddy takes us to the park," Beth retorted as she climbed to a higher platform on the jungle gym. "Mommy is always working. She only took us four times."

"Oh… well…" Meredith stated, trying to ignore the fact that the child knew exactly how many times her mother had taken her to the park. It hit too close to home.

Up until the time Meredith was five years old, the only times she had been to the park were the times she had been taken by her father. She loved going to the park, and she loved spending time with her dad.

Her mother was always too busy to bother taking Meredith. And like Beth, she could also count the number of times her mother had taken her to the park: one.

It wasn't even technically a full trip to the park, either.

On the day Ellis had said she would take little four-year-old Meredith to the park, she was instead glued behind her desk in the den. Meredith would prod into her mother's work, every so often, reminding her of the trip she had agreed to.

By the time the third hour of Meredith's reminders came and went, reluctantly she gave up hope. As she made her way up the staircase to her bedroom, her mother emerged from the den and jeered at Meredith for not being ready to go.

They had made it half a block before the annoying droning sound of a pager going off caused Ellis's grasp on Meredith's shoulder to tighten; little Meredith stopping in her tracks, dashing any hope she had left of her mother taking her to the park.

The following year, Meredith's trips to the park became less and less. The day before Meredith was to move to Boston, with her mother, was the last time she had gone.

She hadn't seen her father in what felt like weeks and he had promised to be there, to take her to the park. Hours passed; she waited. Her mother roamed the house, medical journals in hand, telling young Meredith over her shoulder to grow up, get over it, he father wasn't coming.

Unable to believe what her mother had said, Meredith adventured alone to the park, thinking he was waiting for her there... maybe...

He could be...

"Mommy said she was gonna take us again. Soon." Beth's voice called out as she perched herself at the top of the slide. "I like when Daddy takes us, though. He always gets us icecream after and we have a secret where we don't tell mommy." In one brisk swoop, Beth pushed off, landing safely at the bottom. "Can we?"

Meredith stared at the girl and shook her head. "Can we what?"

"Get icecream."

"I like vanilla. With the rainbow sprinkles," Kayla announced as she landed behind Beth.

"Me too!" Beth said as she ran towards the ladder once more to climb up again.

Meredith watched as Beth and Kayla both climbed to the top and waited behind other children to go down the slide.

"Um... Ah, I think it's still a little too cold for icecream," Meredith told the child, praying a fit was not going to follow. "Next time… maybe…" she added just in case.

Beth peaked over the slates again. "Okay." She moved in line and sat down at the top of the slide. "Sandbox," she said as she pushed off.

Meredith blinked. "What?"

"For Leah." Beth moved next to Meredith and looked up. "But only sometimes. She likes the swings, too."

Kayla ran behind Meredith and tapped Beth on the back. "Tag! You're it!" she yelled as she ran off the opposite way.

Laughing, Beth followed behind her leaving Meredith standing in place, Leah squirming in her arms.

"And there should be some toys in her bag!" Beth shouted over her shoulder as she tried to tag Kayla.

Meredith nodded and spoke softly to herself, "Swings. Sandbox. Toys." She made the mental notes needed and slowly moved away from the safety zone of that which is Big Sister and on to her new location: the swings... or the sandbox.

It took a few moments to locate there whereabouts, but when she had both in sight, she decided on the sandbox, seeing of how it was closer.

Meredith placed Leah into the box of sand, empty of children, and sat down tailor style on the dry grass beside it.

Leah turned her head to Meredith, in pure, utter confusion of the substance of which she was placed in.

"Well, go on," Meredith indicated Leah towards the sand, "Play."

Leah looked down at the loose grains submerging her tiny legs and stuck one hand into it. Just as Meredith thought the child had actually decided to give it a try, her other hand smashed into the yellowish brown material and she pulled herself onto her knees and began to crawl towards Meredith. She tugged on the wooden edge of the box and climbed out.

In reflex, Meredith scooped up the infant and returned her to the sandbox.

Leah looked down towards the sand, then back at Meredith with her nose scrunched up and a look of disgust plastered across her face.

Meredith shrugged to the kid, "I thought you liked the sandbox!"

In an instant, Leah's face softened. Her mouth gaped slightly open as he eyes glossed over. She sucked in a breath.

"Oh no," Meredith said in absolute terror. "No, don't cry."

Leah sucked in another breath; tears on the edge.

"Please don't cry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The words all melded together as Meredith hurriedly grabbed Leah and removed her from the evil sandbox.

Leah gave out an elated giggle and cupped her hands in a victory clap.

"You really don't like the sandbox, do you?" Meredith mumbled absentmindedly as she got to her feet. She looked down at Leah standing in front of her. "So," Meredith continued, "on to the swings?"

Before the words even fully escaped Meredith's mouth, Leah took off running. In short, wobbly, little baby steps, Leah ran not towards the swings, but instead in the direction of the bench they were previously sitting on.

"Okay, not to the swings," Meredith retorted to herself as she took off, trying to catch up to Leah.

As Meredith approached the bench, however, Leah was already in the midst of trying to climb the stroller in an attempt to get the diaper bag containing her toys.

She obliged to Leah's request and placed the bag on the ground, unzipped, giving Leah full-on access to anything inside.

After careful inspection of its contents, Leah settled on a small red ball and a stuffed pig from one of those children's movies Meredith didn't know the title of.

Leah placed her toys on the ground and went back for more, essentially turning the bag over and dumping everything inside onto the grass. She booted the bag to the side and flopped over on her stomach to play.

Leah was happy, content, and completely amusing herself.

Meredith breathed in a sigh of relief and settled back down on her bench in heaven. Relaxing into a new state of mind, Meredith watched Leah as she made little sound effects while playing make-believe with her toys.

"This isn't so bad," Meredith said to herself as she lolled further down the bench.

The kids were all having a great time. The bright smiles of the twins could be seen from across the field and Beth's happy laughter filled the air as she ran around with her friend. Everything just reinsured Meredith thoughts further.

Fully aware of Leah's presence as well, Meredith let her eyes close and her mind drift.

Maybe Derek was right. Not about everything, obviously, but he did put the idea of going to the park into the kids heads. And with the exception of Leah's sandbox nightmare, everything seemed to be going well. The kids were making friends, and having fun. Meredith even had time to relax without feeling awkward surrounding them in her own house. She was use to having adults around who acted like children, but she never had _actual_children around. That definitely took some getting use to… then it took even more getting use to.

The process was stilling going, really.

But for the moment, it didn't matter. It didn't matter because, even though her wonderful peaceful thoughts were at a minimum, the laughter she heard arise from the children didn't make her groan in frustration. Anything was better then hiding on the stairs, away from the kids. Right…?

"Meredith."

Meredith felt herself being pulled deeper and deeper into her thoughts, letting the outside world shrink away.

"Meredith?"

Everything stopped. On the second time she _thought_ she heard her name, Meredith opened her eyes and she was plunged back into reality.

When nobody appeared to be in view, Meredith thought for a moment that maybe she was hearing things. Then, from the corner of her eye she saw the blur of a figure. Meredith turned to her right and stared into the face of the last person should would have ever expected.

"Molly," she choked out.

"Hello, Meredith."

* * *

**I am SO sorry for the lack of updates. The last few weeks, with school and then the holidays, have just been… well… never mind, it's over... done with… moving on! But I'm back, and so are the chapters. I'll have the next one written and posted as soon as I can. Thanks again to everyone who is still out there reading it. And, thanks for all the previous reviews. I reread them when I get stuck while writing a chapter and they help. Again, sorry for the huge gap in updates. I'll try harder. Promise :)**


	11. Chapter 11

The swing creaked ever so slightly as little Meredith sat upon it, resting her head against the chain and gripping both sides tight in her hands. Her only movement was caused from the slight breeze gently rocking her back and forth. She closed her eyes in an effort to hold back the tears from spilling.

She should have known better.

"Molly," Meredith repeated herself, caught off guard by her presence. "Wa- what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you," Molly said, purely uncomfortable.

Then why did you, Meredith almost spat back. She shook her head, instead, indicating the opposite. "No. It's… Fine."

Molly gestured towards the bench of which Meredith was perched. "Do you mind if…" she trailed off.

As soon as Meredith had opened her eyes, she had wished she could have closed them just as fast. It wasn't as if she hated Molly, or despised her… OK. Maybe she did dislike her, to a degree, but that was beside the point. Sure she was judging her only on the account of being her being _one_ of her father's daughters, but given the past, it felt like enough of a reason. Molly was not a person she felt like having a conversation with at the moment. Or ever again, really.

"Free bench," she said despite herself.

Molly took her spot at edge of the bench, but for Meredith, it still felt too close for comfort.

Meredith watched from the corner of her eye as Molly intertwined her fingers, unfolded them, and repeated the process. It was obvious Molly felt just as uncomfortable as Meredith.

"Monday's and Thursday's are Mommy & Me days," Molly began. "We're usually down at the library, for story time, but when the weather starts to warm up we take the kids to the park."

Meredith glanced in her direction, not entirely sure on why she was being told this. When she realized Molly was trying to answer her previous question from before, Meredith slowly nodded her head in understanding, but "Oh," was all she could say. She looked down and tried to keep her focus on Leah playing in the grass.

She knew she should say something more. Do something to at least acknowledge Molly's presence and try to be nice. Say something more than 'Oh'… But she couldn't. She was determined to not let her mind slip. Because if it did… if she let her mind slip… she would think about Molly taking her daughter to Mommy & Me. She would think about what kind of mother Molly was, what kind of mother Meredith _knew_ Molly was. Meredith couldn't get her mother to take her to the park once and Molly willingly took her daughter twice a week. She freaking went to _Mommy & Me_. She hung around with other mothers, in groups involving even more children then her own. She loved her daughter. She cared for her daughter. She cared_about_ her daughter.

And Meredith never had that.

Ever.

"Eric's home… from overseas…" Molly continued as she tried her best to not let an awaked silence overpower. "Not for good, but he's home for a break. He came with us today – that's where Laura is, with her dad."

Dad.

At that single word, that nonexistent noun in her vocabulary, Meredith felt a surge of annoyance take over.

She turned her head towards Molly and for the first time, truly looked her in the eyes.

Meredith knew what Molly was doing in taking about her family; being polite, trying to help, but Meredith chose to ignore that factor and only look at it as Molly rubbing her nose in the dirt. Like a spoiled kid teasing another, showing off what they had, all well knowing others did not.

A dad.

Molly had a dad. Molly… and Lexie… They had _her_dad. They got to grow up in a home with loving parents. Parents who were there for them, who cared for them. Parents who passed on traditions… A mother who would teach them to be mothers. A father who would walk them down the aisle, arm in arm…

For Meredith, it was worse then simply not having any of that, having parents like that. It was the fact that they didn't even try with her. Didn't even bother. Her dad didn't stick around and her mother, although physically present, was gone in spirit. She mine as well of left, too, it wouldn't have made a difference.

A car door had slammed, and little Meredith was yanked away from her dark thoughts. A string of hope had pulled her out with the possibility of her father still showing up.

There had been a father there, just not hers. No, instead the slamming car door was owned by another man who belonged to the two young boys climbing out of the backseat with their baseball gloves and bats.

Laugher and cheering had overtaken little Meredith's ears as she rubbed at her eyes to force the tears away.

He wasn't coming. It was clearly a pipe dream.

She had watched the man and his sons for a few moments more as they had worked their way towards the field, smiling to one another… bonding… having fun being a family. She'd thought about wishing for it. Wishing for a family just like that, but knew it would never happen. Instead she just watched the one taunting her in the park.

As she went to remover herself from the swing, little Meredith had froze at the sight of a familiar car. It wasn't her father, but it was at least someone… someone who cared to come get her.

A smile had broken her solemn face for a split second. It faded as soon as she'd made out the expression on her mother's from across the lot.

Her mother never even fully removed herself from the car. Instead, she stood halfway out and shouted at Meredith to get in, the hospital needed her to come in and fill out the final papers on her transfer and she didn't have time for this nonsense.

Slowly, she'd obliged to her mother's request and walked with her head down towards the awaiting car. Little Meredith climbed into the backseat and stared out the window as her mother sped away, never even mentioning Meredith's adventure to the park or about her lack-there-of father.

Her mother was too preoccupied with work; that she had learned long before the tender age of five. What she didn't know was why he father never showed up. Why he didn't call at all that day, or the next… Why he never wrote, never came to Boston… Why she never heard from again until she showed up on his doorstep some twenty years later.

She hadn't learned of his other family until it was right there for her to see. With no warning, no… anything…. Suddenly she was thrown into her past that she was never clued in on. Suddenly, she learned of why he father had vanished, why he abandoned her.

He didn't need her.

Thatcher Grey had made it very clear to adult Meredith that he had a family, had daughters, and she didn't need to be apart of it.

He had Lexie… and Molly… They were the reason he had left her. They were the reason she didn't have a dad. They _had_ her dad.

And she had no one.

Meredith's anger only grew as Molly continued to hone in on her peace. Her dad had left, her mom was gone, why would she need Molly in her life? She didn't even know her. "What are you doing here?" Meredith snapped.

Molly looked taken aback. "I… um… The, park…"

Meredith shook her head; the tone in her voice rising, "No. What are you doing _here?_ What do you want from me?"

Molly looked down towards her lap. "I don't want anything from you. I, I just…"

"What!" Meredith, although clearly impatient with Molly's stammering and the fact of her being there, even flinched at the volume her voice had reached. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to calm down and recuperate, but was quickly sucked back into reality as she felt a tiny hand tugging at her knee. Meredith looked down at Leah, who had sad, moist eyes and a misguided look of aspiration on her face. Meredith suddenly felt horrible for her behavior.

She was acting like an annoying child not getting their way.

Molly was only trying to help. It was pure coincidence they happen to both be in the park at the same time. It wasn't as if Molly was put up to it; as if she was there spying on Meredith or something absurd like that. Molly was being courteous, and civil. That's all.

She sighed in defeat.

Meredith never thought she would have to make amends with Molly. Lexie was one thing. She saw her on a daily basis, but with Molly… She had never even spoken to her outside the hospital until today….

Meredith sucked in a deep breath.

For as much as she wanted to push Molly away and be snide to her, she really didn't have a reason. And she didn't have a motive.

She knew what she had to do.

"I'm sorry." It came out as a reluctant whisper, but she said it, nonetheless.

Molly nodded, a clear, subtle, acceptance to her apology. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just… I…"

Meredith gripped the edge of the bench with both hands, finally taking her attention away from Leah and looking at the sister she had never known. "Just…"

"I saw you," Molly persisted, "and I just… Wanted to say 'hi' is all."

Meredith looked away, and nodded. But, the only thing that rung through her head was _why_?

She understood Molly was being polite and all, but she just couldn't grasp why. Had she seen Molly in the park first, Meredith would have made every attempt to dodge her. Pack up the kids right then and hightail it out of there. Do everything she could to go unnoticed, not come along and have a good _chat_.

As if reading her mind, Molly interrupted Meredith's thoughts and continued on, evidently knowing where she wanted this conversation to go. "Lexie… She, mentioned… different things. I talk to her… a lot. Everyday. Well, almost. And she, she's just…"

Meredith faced Molly once more, noticing one quality of likeness they possessed in each other: the ability to ramble on to no end.

"She mentioned you two were getting along," Molly finally finished with a sigh.

Meredith leaned into her weight. "We work together, I have to be nice."

"Except you don't. You're her superior; you don't _have_ to be nice to her. But you are."

"I wasn't."

_But you are now._ It was thought by both, but neither said it aloud.

Meredith rested her back to the bench and gripped at the tension in the back of her neck.

It was true. She didn't have to be nice to Lexie, and she wasn't at first. She wasn't nice until she realized she was angry at the idea of Lexie, not the person. When she had gotten into her work routine with Lexie, Meredith learned to push away her childhood misfortune and come to terms with the person, not the notion, and, in a sense, befriend Lexie. The situation was different, though. She had to work with Lexie, spend hours upon days in the same environment as her.

She never had to see Molly. She never thought she had anything in common with Molly. Until now.

As far as their childhoods went, they weren't in the same boat. But where their lives had taken them… basically they found themselves up the same creek, without a paddle, of course.

It was true Meredith wasn't a mother, like Molly. But right now, as Leah crawled up the bench onto her lap, Meredith instinctively wrapped her arms around her and felt as if she could be one. Her emotions on the situation were running haywire all day. She felt as all new mothers tend to feel: petrified, anxious, content, and completely lost. And she was sure she _did_ have that in common with Molly.

As if they had shared an unspoken agreement to lose the topic at hand, be civil, and move on, a cooler sense of air set in. Molly ignored it as she shifted on the bench and Meredith looked up to the sky as a soft mist hit her face.

"Is… Is that your daughter?"

Meredith's head sprang back up and she also addressed Leah before frantically clearing things up. "What… her? No, she's my niece." Meredith's eyes widened at her own response. "Oh, ah… not _my_niece. They're Der… my boyfriends, actually," she quickly added. "That one and them, too," she indicated to Beth, who was running towards the monkey bars, and then the twins, who were chasing after a ball out in the field.

"You're watching them?" Molly glanced from child to child. "By yourself?"

"Yeah, it's no big deal."

_Liar._

Molly puffed out a breath of air in surprise. "You must really love children."

"Who doesn't?" she awkwardly laughed.

_You…_

"Four kids really is a lot, though. I mean, I have my hand full with just the one."

"Well, it's only for the day."

…_Just keep telling yourself that. _

"Only for today…" she muttered to herself.

A droplet of water planked Meredith on the top of her head as it started to drizzle, ever so slightly. She looked up towards the sky, but her attention was quickly hindered as Leah squirmed in her lap.

"Quishy!" Leah demanded from the confines of Meredith's arms.

Meredith reached into the back of the stroller and handed Leah the lemonade pouch she had claimed earlier.

Leah smile grew in pure delight as she struggled free from Meredith's grasp and wiggled to the ground. "Quishy," she said again as she held up her… _interesting_… toy for Molly to see. Leah tilted her head to the side and with her tiny hand fisted around it, gave the pouch a gentle squeeze as for effect.

"I see," Molly responded as she ginned at the tot. She leaned in to Leah and cupped her hands over Leah's and played along. "Really squishy!"

Leah giggled. "Me quishy!"

Meredith couldn't help but laugh herself at the amused look plastered on Leah's face. That is until Leah gripped the pouch with a second hand and squeezed it with more force.

"Leah, don't squeeze it too hard! It'll pop!" Meredith quickly reached out for the toy, but Leah turned away and nodded as her grip lessoned.

"Ohtay," Leah uttered as she sat on the ground and cradled the pouch in her arms. "Me quishy…" she breathed.

Molly laughed at the sweet sight before her. "She really is adorable."

Meredith nodded in agreement. Another raindrop pooled against the back of her hand.

"I should probably go." Molly looked up at the dark clouds closing in. "Eric took Laura to the car. I told him I'd only be a bit."

Meredith nodded again. "Okay."

"Thank you," Molly gulped, "for…" Her sentence trailed off, but it said so much. Thank you for not ignoring me… For being nice… For_almost_ accepting me…

Meredith shook her head. "Yeah. No, um…" She shut her eyes and quickly blinked them back open. She knew what Molly meant, but she was simply overwhelmed by everything to even comprehend words without saying something she shouldn't. She had made a step forward with Molly, but she was still far from ever even considering her family. She was glad, though, that hadn't pushed her away.

As Molly leaned forward, for probably the most awkward hug ever, a shrill sound of a child wailing burst through her eardrums.

Meredith, startled as well, turned in the direction of the cries, only to see a little blonde girl standing over a darker haired child lying under the monkey bars.

She sucked in a sharp, painful breath. "Beth," she whispered, stunned.

In a flat second, Meredith rose from her seat and bolted from the bench towards the monkey bars. She stopped about a quarter of the way, realizing she had forgotten Leah, and quickly ran back towards the bench. She scooped Leah up under her arm like a football and darted back towards Beth.

"Beth!" she cried out as she landed on the ground next to her.

Beth was lying on her back, the tear streaks marking her face as she tried to move to sit up on her elbows.

"Don't move!" Meredith yelled. It came out sounding a lot more fearful then she intended it to, but everything had happened in such a blur… "What happened?! Are you all right? _Can_you move?" She didn't know where to start.

She was so worried about Beth she hadn't noticed the towering figure hovering beside her.

"Meredith, I'm sure she's fine. Kids fall down all the time," Molly shook her head, "It happens."

Meredith wiped her head around in pure rage, her voice rising with it. "I'm the doctor here," she all but screamed, "I see kids all the time come in the ER. Kids who have concussions from falling on the ground." She felt her own tears surfacing, but forced herself to hold them back. "Yeah it happens. But she's my niece. Not yours. You don't get a say in this."

She vaguely heard an apology, but ignored it as she turned her attention back to Beth, who was rubbing away at her own tears with one hand and gripping onto Meredith's with her other.

She felt her heart sink as the little girl's grip tightened against her hand.

"Beth," Meredith said soothingly as she brushed Beth's hair away from her face. "Does anything hurt? Did you hit your head?"

Beth shook her head against the ground and made a small noise that sounded much like a 'no'.

Meredith didn't take her word for it, though, as her doctor side kicked in. She made Beth follow her finger with her eyes, examined for a bulge on her head, checked for feeling in all four limbs, and did a few other small tasks before she even considered letting Beth sit up.

When everything checked out fine, Meredith still couldn't let it go. It was her fault Beth had fallen. She wasn't watching her close enough. She couldn't… What if something was wrong…

"Maybe I should take you to the hospital. Or call… or something." She crossed her legs and ran a hand through her hair in frustration. She_really_ didn't want to have to explain this to Derek, but more importantly she didn't want to risk anything with Beth.

"Meredith," came a calm voice behind her, "She couldn't have fallen that hard. You know that."

Meredith looked back at Molly. She _was_ a mother… She would tell the truth if she thought something was really wrong with Beth. She wasn't a doctor, but she did have natural instincts and a mother's intuition.

That and the fact that Molly stood a good foot taller then the monkey bars indicated Beth's fall couldn't have been more then a small drop to the ground.

"And it is not your fault," Molly added, shaking her head.

Even though Meredith knew Molly was right, she still had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something just didn't feel…

"It's concern," Molly continued once more. "You care for her, you don't want to see her hurt. But… It happens. Kids fall. They get bumps, and scrapes… Sometimes worse… But _you_ know that she's okay."

Meredith let everything Molly was telling her sink as she turned back to Beth. "You're okay?" she asked the child.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Beth swallowed back a sob as she wiped the advancing tears away from her eyes. "The bars were wet. I slipped, and I just got scared."

Once more, Meredith turned to Molly. "Thank you."

Molly nodded. She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb; "I should…" she started, signaling her departure.

"Of course," Meredith nodded and waved back as Molly walked off. She looked back at Beth and gave her a small smile.

"Aunt Meredith?" A little voice came from behind.

Meredith turned her head and came face to face with one of the twins.

_Freckle… Robbie._

"It's okay, Robbie," she automatically said, "Beth's okay."

The second twin suddenly appeared in the small crowd.

"She's okay," Meredith immediately told him.

"Aunt Meredith," the little boy said.

Meredith turned to him, unsure of what else to say.

The little boy looked straight into her eyes. "Aunt Meredith," he repeated. "I'm hungry."

Meredith let out a breath and blinked back her worry as she looked once again at Beth.

The sound of thunder clapped in the distance.

Beth rubbed her eyes and gave a small smile as she slowly climbed onto her knees, then to her feet.

"Can we go home?" Robbie asked as Leah reached out her hand and he clasped it in his own.

"Yeah," Meredith nodded as she, too, lifted herself to her feet, "let's go home."

* * *

** OK. So, not quite as humorous as the other parts, but more laughs to come. I promise! In the meantime, hope you enjoyed the part... and REVIEW:) **


	12. Chapter 12

_Okay... Let's see…_

Meredith opened the cabinet door and began to shuffle things around. Sugar. Flour. Bags of chips. Bags of pretzels. Cans of… Something… that evidently expired months ago.

"Oh, come on," Meredith sighed in frustration as she forcefully shut the door and rested her palm against its surface. "There has got to be something," she muttered.

They had been back from the park for nearly half an hour and Meredith had yet to find something edible to make for the kids. She thought about running to the store, or going out to a restaurant, but both would require her taking the kids. In her car. Alone. Alone in her car. And she wasn't quite sure she could handle that.

As the storm outside grew louder, Meredith sighed in defeat knowing her third alternative of ordering something in was no longer an option. They kids were starving. Having to wait on the delivery would be bad enough, but with a Seattle storm looming around, the time would be doubled.

Meredith fell to her knees and opened one of the last remaining cabinets, hoping to find something suitable. Her eyes scanned over the contents, landing on a box of some kind of side… helper, thing.

As she pulled it into her grasp and began reading the directions her eyes immediately widened and it was quickly shoved it back in the cabinet. "_Way_ too complicated."

She went to close the boor, but a navy blue box in the far back caught her attention.

"Aunt Meredith?" A voice called out to her.

She quickly stood, box in hand, and peered past the island at Beth standing in the kitchen doorway.

"What you doing?" she asked as she made her way further into the room.

"I, um…" Meredith stammered. "Lunch," she said as she held up the box.

Beth's eyes lit up. "Can I help?"

For the first time Meredith actually looked at the box and felt relief wash over her, as it was the Godsend made by Kraft: macaroni and cheese.

"Um, yeah…" she nodded, "sure."

Beth skipped happily through rest of the room until she was standing on the opposite side of island next to Meredith. She looked up at Meredith, beaming in excitement. "'Kay, what can I do?"

"Oh, well, ah… Here," she handed the box to Beth, "you take this while I fill up a pot of water for it, okay?"

Beth nodded in agreement and tucked the box under her arm as she pulled a chair close to island.

Meredith turned the tap on hot and placed the pot under. "Wait. Something doesn't seem…" She turned the tap off, then on again, running her fingers under to test the temperature. She turned back to Beth, who was sitting on the edge of the island, swinging her legs back and forth. "What's the box say?"

Beth turned the box over in her hands. "Umm… Boil water."

Meredith looked down at the pot of hot water in her hands. "Right," she said to her reflection. _Dumbass…_

She hoped it wasn't too transparent that she really had no idea what she was doing. The fact that she was even making an effort to cook something was astonishing, considering the last time she had used the stove was to light a taper candle when she couldn't find any matches… A month ago…

She didn't cook.

She removed cold pizza from tinfoil, and made grilled cheese with the toaster.

And she was pretty sure pouring cereal didn't qualify either.

But the kids needed actual food. Sure, macaroni and cheese wasn't exactly the best thing to give them, but it was all she had. Unless they were content on sucking back tequila, the blue box would have to do.

Now if only she knew what the hell she was doing…

Meredith placed the pot onto the stove and lit the burner. "Okay, so this boils and then…"

"Add the noodles," Beth said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And actually… It kind of was.

"I suck at this," she mumbled to herself, wiping the light beads of swear from her forehead.

The situation was becoming a lot more stressful then it should have been. It shouldn't be this hard. Macaroni and cheese is a kid's food after all. It was quick, easy to make.

Supposedly.

Except it wasn't.

She began tapping her fingers lightly on the counter top as he leg started to jitter against the wooden floor below her. She needed to calm down.

She needed to breathe.

In one swift movement, Meredith forced herself to relax, and halted her nervous motions. Closing her eyes tightly, her chin made contact with the palm of her hand and rested there. She sucked in a deep breath of air, holding it a moment before releasing and sliding further into the peacefulness she needed.

Beth turned the box in her hands causing the noodles to crash into each other and Meredith's eyes to jet open.

"You okay?" Beth asked, leaning in slightly to her almost-aunt.

"Fine," Meredith hastily retorted, feeling slightly bad when she realized her tone caused Beth to physically tense for a second.

It was easily forgotten, though when Beth literally shrugged it off and let an awkward silence consumed the space between them.

Meredith let her eyes shift to the girl. _Maybe I should say something, _she thought. Strike up a conversation. _But what?_

In all honestly, Meredith knew very little about Derek's kin. She didn't know what kind of conversation to have with them. She didn't know what to talk about with any child, let alone the one sitting next to her.

More specifically, she didn't know _how_ to talk to a child.

Meredith scratched her head and pursed her lips, deciding to say something.

"Who was that lady at the park?"

"What?" Meredith squawked as her elbow slipped from the counter, causing her to fall forward. She quickly composed herself and stood straight. "Wa-what lady?"

"The lady," Beth replied matter-of-factly. "When I fell down, there was a lady with you. Do you know her?"

Meredith clamped her jaw shut. Her first instinct was to lie; No, I haven't a clue what you are _even_ referring to.

"Uh… a…"

Beth stopped swinging her legs and stared at the stammering, nervous, oaf standing before her.

"Yeah," Meredith said barely above a whisper, "I know her."

The feet swinging motion continued yet again. "Oh." Beth once again looked down at the box in her hands, but quickly changed her mind and averted her eyes back to Meredith. "She your sister?"

Meredith actually thought her jaw had smacked the floor.

_How the… _

She pulled away, dropping her shoulders as her suspicion grew. "Why would you think that?"

Beth shrugged her response, "You guys look alike."

That caught Meredith off guard more then anything else. "We _do_ not." She wasn't quite sure who she was trying to convince more, though. She had been told by many people- meaning her friends and coworkers- that she did share a certain resemblance to Molly. Nevertheless, she refused to believe it herself.

"You do too. You both have the same faces. And you act the same, too."

Meredith shifted her weight and leaned into the island again. "We do _not_."

"Unhuh. When I fell you both acted the same. You were both scared and you moved the same and you both did the same thing with you hands, like you went through your hair when you talked," Beth quickly defended her observations in a single breath, demonstrating all the motions as she went along.

Meredith side glanced Beth momentarily. "…Whatever," she changed the subject, "Is that boiling yet?"

Beth leaned over and looked into the pot of which Meredith had her finger pointed to and with a sigh told her, "No, it needs more bubbles still." She sat back away from the pot and took the macaroni and cheese box again, tilting it from top to bottom so the noodles ran together over and over.

Meredith gazed into the pot of non-boiling water as she rubbed her temples and tried to float away with the tiny bubbles skimming along the sides. She took deep, shallow breathes, trying to clean her mind and not think about her sister. And not think about how Derek abandoned her with the overwhelming task of watching four kids, and not think of how the oldest one was sitting a mere twelve inches away reading her like an open book.

One by one, the bubbles grew. With every thud the collision of noodles made, the water boiled more, like waves crashing against the shoreline at high tide. And she got lost in the sound, letting it pull her under, breathing in tune with the waves of the noodles.

Then suddenly, it stopped.

The waves continued to grow, but there sound ceased.

Meredith removed her eyes from the pot only to find Beth's staring back.

"How come you don't like her?"

Without moving a muscle in her stance, she muttered, "It's… complicated."

"How come?"

"How come it's complicated?" Meredith questioned as she regained her posture and folded her arms together.

Beth nodded and slowly began swinging her feet back and fourth yet again.

She asked her inquiry as if it were the simplest question ever. Clearly she had no regard on the complexity of a possible answer.

Frankly neither did Meredith.

"It's just… It's…" Stopping to take a breath, she tried to find her wording. "I never said I didn't like her."

Beth smirked in a way that proved she was in fact Derek's niece. "Didn't have to."

Meredith's hand found her hip, grounding her as she looked into a pair of blue eyes she was all too familiar with. "How old are you?"

"Six," came the reply.

"You're very bright for your age," Meredith stated softly as she eyed the girl once more.

Beth grinned up at her. "You can add the noodles now."

Meredith looked down into the now boiling water. Before she had a chance to do anything, "Aunt Meredith," was heard from the doorway, causing her to bring her attention to the small boy in the distance.

"Yeah?" Meredith asked, intentionally not guessing on a name for fear of not being right.

"I'm hungry," he said as he entered the kitchen.

"Did you have to share a room?" Beth chimed in.

"Is lunch ready?" the boy continued.

Meredith's head snapped back and fourth between the children before focusing on Beth's rather odd question. "What?"

"Robbie and Matthew," Beth began, "they have to share a room. They fight sometimes, but they get along. They like the same things." Beth nodded her head as she repeated, "they share a room."

"I never shared a room," Meredith told her as she tried to shift her attention to the other child.

"Is that why you don't like her? Did you want to share a room and you couldn't?"

The younger sibling started bouncing in place. "My tummy is groooowlin'," he drug out the word as he placed his hands on his stomach to emphasize.

Again, Meredith was unsure of whom to turn to as the attention became demanding between both of them. Instead of speaking, Meredith grabbed the box of noodles from the counter, ripped the packaging open, and dumped them into the pot.

"Robbie, it's almost done, okay?" Beth asked her younger brother who nodded his head in response. "Go play more until it's ready."

He looked up at Meredith, "Can we play with our Legos?"

"Ah… yeah, sure," Meredith shrugged. "Just… don't… eat them or anything."

"Okay!" Robbie smiled as he turned on his heels and ran from the kitchen.

_That's odd…_ Meredith thought to herself. "He asked… Do they always ask to play with certain toys?"

Shaking her head, Beth responded, "Only things with lots of pieces and sometimes stuff with wheels. They break things a lot."

"So I've noticed," Meredith remarked, remembering the picture frame that was no longer intact. "So what do I do with this stuff now?" she said as she sat the empty box down on the counter.

"You have to stir it so they don't stick together. And they have to be in there for ten minutes. And the fire has to be turned down before they boil over!" Beth announced just as the rising water reached the rim of the pot.

As Meredith quickly lowered the heat she asked, "How do you know all this?"

"I read the directions," she said, smiling. "And I've helped Daddy before."

Meredith eyed the child as she picked up the box once more to skim the directions, deciding not to comment on her notion of cleverness, that she herself lacked. "You do a lot of stuff with your dad, huh?" she asked as she handed Beth a long wooden spoon.

Beth shrugged her response. "Daddy has an office at home. Mommy work's in town in a big building. She's not around as much."

Meredith felt Beth's words as if they could have fallen from her own lips. The situation of absent parents sounded all too familiar to her. At least Beth's father was a figure in her life, though. Her and her siblings had someone who they could rely on without worry. It was obvious their mother was also present, as Kathleen had brought them with her across the country. She did mention the unexpected cancellation of a sitter, but still… It was evident she loved them, too, and did what she could. She was a working mother…

Ellis Grey was a working mother.

Meredith impeded her thoughts before they could overcome her; she was sick of letting her emotions get the best of her. She had Derek now, that's all that mattered. He was in her life; he was there for her, and she knew he would always be there for his nieces and nephews, too.

Sure he left her with the kids… But when it really mattered, he would be there. He was family.

He was her family.

"Did your daddy let you help cook too when you were little?" Beth asked Meredith as she began to stir the simmering noodles.

"Um… no…"

"He didn't let you help?!" Her reply reached a whole new octave as her eyes bugged forward while her jaw dropped.

"Well… It, no… It's not… It's wasn't…" Meredith stumbled for her words. Her usual tendency was to blurt out everything in a gibberish format- rambling all the way- allowing leeway for her more personal, more heartrending secrets about her past to be overlooked and swept under the rug.

For some reason, however, her inadvertent technique did not work on these children.

In the small amount of time Meredith had spent with the kids so far, they've been able to see right though her. She did not know how, but Beth had managed to bring up the demise of her childhood with a single question.

Did your daddy ever let you help cook when you were little? No. Why? Because my father left when I was five years old, abandoning me completely until I looked him up twenty years later, only to find out about his wife and his _real _daughters. The family he never wanted me to be apart of…

Meredith blinked. "No, I didn't see my dad much when I was little." It wasn't a lie… A small variation on the truth, but she was talking to a six-year-old, after all. The entire truth about her past would definitely leave some scars if she weren't careful. She knew the pain, and just simply speaking about it was enough to case damage.

"How come? Did your daddy work like my mommy does?" Beth questioned; oblivious to the distress and determined to get somewhere with her pseudo aunt. "Were you forced to spend time with your sister… is that why you don't like her?!

"Why do you care so much about my life?" Meredith asked, the small smile pulling at her lips overpowering the pounding in the back of her head.

Beth shrugged her shoulders, "You're… my aunt. Well… Uncle Derek said you might be my aunt… so… If you're my maybe aunt then… that makes your family my maybe family, too. Right?"

Meredith gritted her teeth. "Ah… How do I explain this," she mumbled. "Um… Okay. If I were your aunt- which I'm not… Not that I don't want to be your aunt!" she quickly added, "It's just… we haven't really talked about it… I mean… I may be your aunt… Someday. Not soon! Maybe, eventually…" Meredith stopped her rambling only to let out a deep sigh. "I had a point to this," she thought aloud. "Okay. Because she's my sister doesn't necessarily make her my family. Or my father. Those people aren't my family." _Derek is my family._

"What do you mean?" Beth innocently asked.

"It's-"

"Complicated?"

At Meredith's nod, the direction of the conversation died down. Beth realized she wasn't going to get much out of her. Being Derek's niece, she was, however, persistent. She was intent on getting something out of Meredith. Anything.

"Did you know my Aunt Addie?"

"Whoa, okay, food's done!" Meredith voiced immediately as she turned off the burner and transported the still boiling noodles to the sink. She was sure Beth understood the concept of Derek and Addison's marriage, and that they were no longer together, but she was not about to go down that road, with anyone, let alone with a six-year-old.

"It's only been nine minutes!" Beth indicated as she glanced to the microwave's clock.

"They'll be fine," Meredith mumbled as she dumped the excess water from the pot. Upon returning to the stove, Meredith handed the packet of powered cheese to Beth. "Why don't you stir it in?" she suggested, purposefully rearing all conversation away from all their previous subjects.

Beth lifted a spoon but stopped once she peered into the pot. "It needs the butter and milk first."

"Right. Of course." Meredith tried to ignore her mistake that, frankly, _anyone could make_ and retrieved the missing ingredients.

After adding the correct amount of each, Meredith picked the pouch once more, ripped the top off and handed it over to Beth before anything else got in the way.

"Okay. You want to stir for a minute while I go check on your sister and brothers?"

"Sure," Beth nodded.

"Okay," she sighed. "Okay, good." Nodding her exit, Meredith made her way out of the kitchen, thankful for the few moments alone that would grant.

She liked Beth, she really did, but there is only so much she could take regarding her past. And she wanted to forget her past. Well, she actually wanted to forget her current present, too- fast-forward to tomorrow- be done with the whole kid thing. But neither were an option. Her past kept rearing its ugly head today, reminding her of the fact that she didn't do kids, because she didn't know _how_ to do kids. She was never taught; was never an example herself.

And it left scars.

Meredith sighed again as she made her way to the living room, where the other children were.

At least the boys were too young to approach her on those subjects. It had been some time since Derek's divorce, and even longer since he had been home back east. Meredith would be surprised if the boys even remembered ever having an Aunt Addison.

"What's going on in here?" she found herself call out as she rounded the corner, stumbling upon trucks. And Legos. And trucks stuffed with Legos. All of which were discarded on the floor while the boys sat only a foot away from the television set- eyes glued to the screen. "Guys?" she called out again, finally gaining their attention.

"We didn't break anything!" one of the boys yelled, more out of a habit, it seemed, then anything else.

The place was a mess, and they hadn't even been back home for that long.

_How did it get this bad… so quick? _Meredith thought.

"Whatever," she breathed, "lunch will be done in a few minutes."

"Can we eat in here?" the other boy asked.

Meredith shrugged. "What the heck."

_It can't get much worse. _

The boys smiled their gratitude and returned their attention to the animated show they were previously fixated on.

"Sit back a little please," she demanded softly as she made her way through the landmine toy field. If she couldn't feed them properly (according to Derek's standards) she could at least keep them from going blind.

"Quishy?" Leah immediately asked, her sad eyes beaming up at Meredith as she finally approached the pack-n-play.

Meredith shook her head. "You already have a squishy."

"Quishy!" Leah practically cried out.

That's when Meredith realized. The wetness. The empty pouch of lemonade. Leah's crushed eyes.

"Oh no, Leah." Meredith lifted the girl from her confines, revealing a sopping wet playpen. Meredith spun Leah in her arms, relieved to see she was completely dry, and was about to set her down on the ground when she remembered the mess.

The Legos.

"Quishy bye-bye." Leah said sadly as she played with the ends of Meredith's hair.

"I can see." Meredith mumbled. She grabbed the empty drink pouch and carried it, along with Leah, out of the room and back into the kitchen.

"It's ready!" Beth announced cheerfully as soon as Meredith was in sight.

"Wonderful," Meredith muttered in response. She handed empty bowls to Beth, who began filling them with their meal.

"What's the matter with Leah?" she asked once she saw her little sister's unhappy features.

""Quishy go bye-bye." Leah whispered.

Meredith sighed. "She busted that drink pouch thing she'd been carrying around."

"Oh," came the only response. "Can I watch TV?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Can you take your brothers their food, too? I'm going to get Leah's sticky hands and face washed. I guess lemonade isn't the best toy, huh?"

Beth smiled shaking her head. "Nope."

"Nope," Meredith repeated under her breath. She grabbed forks from the nearby drawer and placed each in a bowl as Beth balanced all three in her arms. "We'll be in in a few minutes," she called to Beth's departing form.

Meredith sat Leah on the island as she dampened a washcloth. "At least you didn't get your clothes," she said as she did her best to remove the sugar coating from the tiny girl's hands.

"Quishy?" Leah asked, the despair still noticeable in her voice.

"We don't have anymore squishies, I'm sorry," Meredith replied as she stroked one of Leah's pigtails.

Leah looked up at her aunt with glossy eyes. "No quishy?"

Meredith shook her head sadly. "No squishy."

Leah nestled head against Meredith's chest, and Meredith stroked her hair once more. She then grabbed a fork of her own and withdrew some macaroni from the now almost empty pot. "Want a bite?" She lowered the fork for Leah to see and was glad when she felt her accept it.

At least she wasn't too depressed to eat.

Leah lifted her head away from Meredith, hastily chewing her mouthful of noodles.

"Is it good?" Meredith asked with a small smile.

"Mmm," Leah nodded, opening her mouth wide, leaving Meredith unable to help but chuckle at the display in front of her.

She gave Leah another bite before taking one herself and continued the alternating process until Leah pulled away, shaking her head.

"Full?"

Leah nodded and yawned, replacing her head to rest Meredith's chest.

Meredith rubbed small circles on the young child's back as she continued to pick at the macaroni. Her stomach was slightly larger then tot size, after all.

When she was finished, Meredith decided she needed to go check on the other kids.

As she started to pull away from the island, though, she felt Leah falling into her. Meredith quickly stationed her hands around her and looked down at her slumbering form.

Meredith wrinkled her brow, never even realizing she had fallen asleep.

Her plans quickly changed as she decided Leah needed to be put down for a nap. In her wet playpen…

"Crap," Meredith whispered, squeezing her eyes tight as she ran a hand through her hair.

_Couch, _she thought. It was the only alternative where she could keep an eye on her that she could think of.

Meredith, ever so gently, lifted Leah into her arms and carried her away to their new destination.

The Legos.

She would have to tell the boys to clean up, in case Leah work up and decided to have desert when no one was looking.

"Boys, do you mind…" She stopped in mind sentence once she rounded the corner.

Everyone was asleep.

Beth was curled up on one end of the couch, her head half under a pillow and another tucked under an arm while the boys were piled together on the floor, only feet way from the television set, their empty bowls of macaroni and cheese lying next to them; Beth's resting on the coffee table.

They were asleep.

They were not asking questions, or watching obnoxious cartoons, or beating up on each other. Quiet. They were quiet, and dreaming. Sound asleep.

Meredith tried to fight off a yawn of her own as she smiled down at the peaceful children.

Who were all asleep.

She placed Leah on the opposite end of the couch and pulled the coffee table up to the ledge, creating a barrier so Leah would not fall, then got down on her hands and knees and began piling up the Legos. Just in case.

After the last one was placed back into its container, Meredith got to her feet and couldn't help but look again at sight that lay before her.

Asleep.

She smiled to herself and stretched, fighting off her own tiredness. She wasn't exactly sure what to do now. The kids were asleep. Was she supposed to sit there and watch them the entire time? Make sure nothing happens to them while sleeping?

When the conniving little yawn finally broke through her lips, Meredith decided it best to at least be semi productive. Work. She would focus on work.

Meredith walked across the hall and into the den. It was perfect. She could get some work done and check up on the kids only a few feet away. She sat down at her desk and pulled out some paperwork she needed to catch up on.

After what felt like forever- in reality was only 3 minutes- Meredith dropped her pen in need of a break.

The rain had begun to come down heavily, slamming pellets against the window in a pitter-patter noise. It was rather soothing. And relaxing.

She lowered her head to the desk, deciding to give herself fives minutes to snooze and recharge. That's it, then back to work.

As she let out a deep sign and closed her eyes, her mind began to wonder, and she was out like a light.

Meredith was sucked into a deep, tranquil, sleep so quickly she never even heard her cell phone chirp the all to familiar ringtone, 'Love In an Elevator', from her bag in the hall…

* * *

**I know. I'm horrible. I haven't updated this in forever. I'll give you all the short version and say, real life sucks. My semester was awful. Seriously. I planned on having this done mid-May but I needed some serious time to recover. It was that bad... Anyway, I never stopped writing (I rewrote it twice) and/or thinking about this story and I will write it until it is finished. I have no intention of just letting it go, or not updating again for as long as I did. So, for everyone who is still reading it, I thank you greatly :) And more will come, I promise! PS, reviews would be wonderful. I really like knowing what people think :) **


	13. Chapter 13

She felt her eyes slowly open as a loud crack of thunder shook the house. The room was almost completely dark, with the exception of one of those nightlight plug-in air freshener things Izzie insisted on putting in each room of the house.

It took her a minute to realize where she was. The den. Why was she in the den?

She lifted her head and winced as the crick in her neck became apparent.

Damn desk.

She wiped the drool that formed in the corner of her mouth and let her arms fall limp in her lap. She hated waking up; it took way too much effort. Sleeping was a much better alternative. But sleeping on the desk? Why was…

As another roll of thunder boomed throughout the house, Meredith remembered why she had been asleep in the den. She remembered because of the cries coming from the room across the hall.

After hurling herself away from the desk and out of the den, Meredith rushed in to see Leah weeping on the couch and Beth kneeling on the floor, trying to comfort her sister.

"What happened?" Meredith asked on instinct as she turned on a lamp and knelt beside Beth.

"She doesn't like storms," Beth said just as another thunderclap boomed. "Neither do I!" Beth wrapped both arms around Meredith and buried her face against her.

Leah too reached out, wanting to be sheltered from the storm. She enfolded her small arms around Meredith's neck and fell into her lap, not even giving the option of saying no.

Meredith didn't really know what to do. She was literally surrounded by kids. She never had to deal with this before. She was never afraid of thunder, or storms. She actually enjoyed them. That was one thing she loved about Seattle.

Storms, to her, were not something you fear.

There was only one time she could recall ever being scared by a thunderstorm. She was three years old and woke up in the middle of the night to the wind howling through the gap in her doorframe. She was too scared to get out of her bed, but she was too scared to stay there. Once she finally got enough courage, she made her way into her parent's room but was sent back without either of them even opening their eyes.

After that night, Meredith learned to find comfort in the storms, and in the rain.

"It won't hurt you," she finally said to the girls.

Beth pulled her head away only enough to see Meredith's face.

"The thunder, I mean…" Meredith continued.

She realized Leah would be too little to understand really what she was really saying, but she felt a comfort in at least helping Beth, who could at some point help her younger sister.

"But it's loud." Beth hid her face sheepishly.

"I know," Meredith said, "but it has to be. It wouldn't be thunder… otherwise." She finished with half a smile at her obvious non-joke. Beth, however, was not amused.

"I don't like it." Beth covered her ears as the thunder sounded again. "Make it stop," she whined.

Meredith closed her eyes and sighed. Maybe the comfort thing was working very well on them, but she tried her best to stay calm at the child's irrational concept of the storm, and her fear behind it.

Beth winced and clutched her hands tighter against her ears as the storm grew outside.

"Don't you have storms at home?" Meredith asked her.

"I don't like them there either!" She hid her face in Meredith's neck again and swung her arm forward, elbowing Meredith in the face, sending all three of them backwards onto the ground.

"Ow," Meredith muttered as she sat back up. She brought her hand to the corner of her mouth, checking for blood, and was thankful that none was found.

Leah wailed at the sudden impact and climbed fully onto of Meredith, gripping for dear life.

Meredith worked her way back into a sitting position, pried the kids off of her, and tried to take a deep cleansing breath.

She may have learned not to fear storms, but she was never taught not to fear children.

"What's that noise?" she asked herself as she heard a faint beeping sound in the distance.

"The thunder!" Beth shirked.

"No, it's not the thunder…" Meredith chided.

_Crap. Cell phone._

"Hang on guys," she told them as she stood to retrieve her phone.

Unfortunately, the girls took her in a literal sense and Beth gripped on to her hand, Leah hugged her leg.

_Whatever, _Meredith sighed and walked… wobbled rather, to the front door where she left her bag.

2 missed calls, 1 new voicemail.

Without looking to see who called, she pushed the voicemail button.

"_Mer, It's me…" _

As soon as she heard his voice, she knew what was coming.

"_I'm going to be here a while longer." He sighed. "The pileup was worse than they anticipated and the OR's are backing up fast. I know when you hear this you're going to freak out, but you have to stay calm, just… keep calm. And I know you're mad, probably furious, and I know I'm in sever trouble- I get that. I'll be home as soon as I can, I promise. Okay, I have to go… I'll try and call later if I can. I lo-"_

Meredith clicked her phone shut. She had heard enough.

"Son of a…" She looked down at the quivering girls, still attached, and silently cursed to herself.

Meredith pressed the pressure point on her temple, trying to take away the headache that was forming. Apparently watching children all day was not exactly a stress-free experience.

"Wait," Meredith said suddenly looking around, "where are your brothers?"

As if on cue, a loud slamming noise, followed by a swarm of giggles, erupted from the kitchen.

"Never mind," Meredith mumbled. As she stood, both Beth and Leah latched on, and the three of them went to the kitchen.

"What is going on in here?"

The light from the open refrigerator was just bright enough to cast a glow on the small boys and their disastrous mess on the floor below them.

"I was trying to get away," one of them said.

"What are you talking about?" Meredith asked as she flipped on the light switch. "And _what_ are you wearing?"

They both had the same look on their faces: humor and guilt, surrounded by a chocolate mustache from the icecream they had been eating. One was dressed in a black and white stripped shirt and had black marks on his face, almost like war paint. The other boy had on a navy blue uniform with a small plastic badge on the right chest, topped off with a matching hat, of course.

"We playing cops and robbers!" The policeman said, holding up yet another toy badge.

"Right," Meredith nodded, "and the mess?"

Five pairs of eyes landed on the floor below them. Numerous items from the refrigerator were piled on the floor in a heap. A few perfectly fine, a few smushed and slightly broken.

"We couldn't see," the bandit began, "it was dark."

"So we opened the fridge," the cop continued.

"And we saw the ice cream."

Meredith shook her head. "But what does that have…" She stopped herself as the oblivious became obvious: the location of the ice cream in the freezer. "You couldn't reach it."

"I told Matty I would climb and get it." The robber clarified.

"And I told him not to," The officer… er... _Matthew_… said.

Meredith couldn't help but think of how mature Matthew seemed on the matter, not wanting his brother to get hurt.

"'Cause I wanted to get it," Matthew giggled.

_And never mind… _

"And then the shelf fell." Robbie went on.

"And it was really funny."

"And then you came in."

Now that she was caught up to speed, Meredith just looked on. She stared at the mess. Then at the boys. At the back of the eyelids, then at the mess again. She ran the hand that wasn't holding Leah through her hair and closed her eyes again. This kid thing was not something she signed up for.

"Go play," she told them quietly, and they ran from the room.

Meredith sat Leah down on the island and grabbed a wet sponge from the sink. As she chucked it to the ground and got on her knees, her thoughts went over her head. She was annoyed at the messiness of children. She was annoyed at their illogical fears. She was annoyed at Derek's abandonment. Mostly though, she was annoyed at herself for falling asleep, allowing the kids to get all hopped up on sugar and clingy and wild.

No, actually, she was annoyed at Derek the most.

"Stupid brain man," she muttered as she scrubbed what appeared to be tomato sauce from the floor. "Stupid… Idiotic…" She blew a puff of air at her bangs and looked at the remaining children. "Do you know what imprudent means?" Beth shook her head. "Good. Because your uncle is the most imprudent, irresponsible, foolish, brainless, most stupid man to leave me in charge alone."

Beth smiled a toothy grin. "I know what stupid means."

"Did I say stupid?" Meredith casually asked as she picked up a half exploded syrup bottle.

"Un huh." Her smile grew wider.

Meredith paused her cleaning for a moment and thought about her comment. "No, stupid was the right word." She grabbed the last few unsalvageable items and threw them in the trash. "I cannot believe he's left me here to deal with all of this," she muttered. "_I_ can't deal with this. This is just… Why is it so quiet in here?" Meredith leaned her back against the counter and stared at the kids.

Beth shrugged; Leah didn't move a muscle.

"Kids aren't quiet when they play. You guys aren't quiet when you play, right?"

Beth let out a small giggle. "Only when we've done something bad."

Another roll of thunder shook the house and Beth's hands muffed her ears.

As the thunder dissipated, Meredith heard exactly what she didn't want to…

Silence.

"Oh crap."

Meredith grabbed Leah and ran from the room, Beth right on her tail. "Robbie, Matthew?" she called as she rounded the corner towards the living room.

No answer.

"Come on guys!"

"Aunt Meredith."

Meredith turned quick in her tracks at the sound of her name, causing Beth to run right into her side.

The boys were sitting on the steps, peering through the rails.

"What are you two doing?" Meredith asked as she moved closer.

One boy stifled a giggle by throwing his hand over his mouth.

"I'm stuck," the other one replied.

"What do you mean you're stuck?" Meredith asked.

The boy lifted his arm and jingled the shiny metal handcuff that was clasped around his wrist while the other one was attached to a rail of the banister.

"Are you kidding me?!" Meredith yelled. She handed Leah over to Beth and ran halfway up the steps to where the boys were sitting. "Robbie, why are you handcuffed to the banister?"

"He's Robbie," the cop said as he pointed to his brother with his free hand.

Meredith lowered herself to their level. "_Robbie, _why is there a cop handcuffed to the banister?"

Robbie giggled again. "'Cause he lost!"

Meredith smirked at the boy. "Don't you guys have a key or something?" She asked as she tried to free Matthew's wrist.

"We use to," Matthew told her, "but we lost it a while ago."

Meredith sighed. "You can't slip it out?"

Matthew held the cuff with his free hand and attempted to pull his right wrist from it.

It didn't work.

Matthew dropped both hands, but his frustration grew and he began tugging harder before giving up once more. "Nope."

"Okay," Meredith rose to her feet. "I'm going to go see if there's… um, something that ah, some kind of stuff that can help get you... out." She turned to head down the stairs. "Okay, I'll be right back, don't move." She paused for a second once it registered what she said. "You know what I mean…"

Robbie giggled and fell over on his captured brother.

"You staying here or coming with me?" Meredith asked Beth as she passed her and Leah on the way back to the kitchen.

The storm roared once again and Beth nodded, rushing to catch up with Meredith's pace.

_What the heck am I suppose to do?_

"I need… ah, something… slippery? Something greasy, right?" Meredith glanced at Beth as she opened the refrigerator doors.

Beth shrugged, "I don't know. I guess."

"Well we have…. Nothing."

"Butter?" Beth suggested.

Meredith grabbed the tub and opened it. "No. It's empty." She rummaged through the fridge a bit more. "Seriously? There is seriously nothing in here."

"Dish soap." Meredith's epiphany hit her and she quickly rushed over to the sink. "It's soap, it's slippery right? It'll work… Right?

"Sure." Beth shrugged.

Meredith dashed back to the staircase; slightly dizzy from constant running around she was doing.

"We're going to try this, okay?" she told Matthew.

"What's that? Why's it green?" he responded.

"Calm down, it's just soap. That's all" Meredith soothed him. "Okay, I'm going to put some on your wrist, when I do I want you to try and pull it through, alright?"

Matthew nodded and held out his wrist.

Meredith squeezed the soap bottle, coating his wrist. "Okay, go ahead."

Matthew did as he was told, but nothing happened. The soap bubbled slightly and dripped into a puddle on the step.

"Oh my gosh, that looks soooo gross!" Robbie snickered as he leaned for a better look.

Meredith tried her best not to roll her eyes and decided she needed Robbie away so she could actually help Matthew get out.

"Robbie, why don't you-" she was interrupted before she could tell him, however, when she was met with an unpleasant wetness as Matthew sneezed on her.

"Sorry," the boy said as he wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Meredith backed away slowly, grimacing ever so slightly. "Yeah," was all she could say. Using her thumb, she wiped some of the… _moisture… _ away from her cheek. "Okay," she said as she stood up. "I'm going to, um, wash my face, and I'll see if there's something that ah, something else that'll work." She turned to head down the stairs. "Robbie, why don't you come down here with your sisters."

Robbie didn't say a word as he got up and ran down the stairs.

"Aunt Meredith."

She turned again at the sound of her name. "What is it?"

Matthew's brows were squished together making him appear as if he were about to blow. "I have to pee."

"You what?" Meredith almost choked out.

"I said I have to-"

"No, damn it, I mean… I heard you, it's just-"

"Damn it!"

Meredith almost got whiplash from how hard her neck turned away.

"Damn it!" Robbie yelled again.

And then it occurred to her what she had just done.

"Damn it!"

Her eyes bugged out from her head. "Shit."

"Shit!" Robbie copied.

"No! No, Robbie, don't-"

"Shit!"

"Robbie!" Meredith shrieked. She bolted down the stairs and landed on her knees in front of him, but he had already taken off, screaming his newly learnt word. "Robbie, come back here!" Meredith yelled after him.

"Aunt Meredithhhh!"

She looked back to Matthew who was crossing his legs tightly and tugging at the handcuffs yet again.

"Shhhit!!" Robbie screamed as he ran by.

Meredith stood back on her feet and ran her hands through her hair. "I am so going to kill him," she said to herself. She took a deep breath and dove in. "Robbie!" she called again but got nothing in response. "Okay, Matthew, I'm going to have you out in a minute, alright? Just hang on for a minute." Meredith nodded and Matthew mirrored her. "Robbie!" she growled as she saw Robbie run by again, swearing away. When she turned to speak to the girls, they were both missing, too.

"Aunt Meredith!" Matthew bellowed again.

"I'm going, I'll be right back. RIGHT back."

Having decided to catch Robbie and find the girls later, Meredith rushed through the kitchen and into the laundry room, making a small detour first to get a wet towel to wipe her face.

Meredith threw the towel into the washing machine, closed the lid, climbed on top of it, and began to root around on the shelves overhead. "Come on, where is it…" She pulled down a gray tackle type box and grabbed the object she had been looking for from it. "Ah ha! I knew I had you somewhere."

She rushed back to the staircase, gripping her gadget tightly with both hands. "Okay, Matthew. You ready?" she asked as she raised a small handsaw away from her body, the metal reflecting for the overhead light and bouncing onto the small boy's face.

"You're going to cut my hand off!" Matthew shouted in complete terror.

Meredith's nose scrunched up at the confusion. "What are you talking about- I'm not going to cut your hand, I'm cutting the rail."

"No you're not, you're going to cut my hand!"

"Matthew! You have to pee and your hand is not getting out of those cuffs anytime soon. This is the only thing I can think of that'll be quick. I'm not going to cut your hand off, I promise. Okay?"

Matthew didn't say a word but nodded. He pulled his wrist tighter against his body as Meredith placed the handsaw against the rail. After six and a half passes he was free from the railing but continued to sit there looking at her.

"Run," Meredith instructed and Matthew took off up the stairs to the bathroom, the handcuff still dangling from his wrist.

Meredith looked at the rail that was now in two. The top half was barely hanging on and bottom half was in the palm of her hand. She placed the chunk of wood and the handsaw on the table in the hall and made a mental note, deciding to start a list for Derek to fix.

Refrigerator shelf?

_Check._

Banister rail?

_Check. _

_Lord knows what else there'll be… _

Sewing your nephew's limbs back on?

_Check. _

"Robbie!" Meredith yelled. She went into the living room, only to find Beth coloring at the coffee table and Leah crawling around on the couch behind her, but Robbie was nowhere around. "Where's your brother?"

No one moved, no one responded.

"Beth." She looked up. "Where is your brother?"

"He's behind you."

Just as she turned around, Matthew entered the room. "No, I mean your other brother. Matthew, you're the cop. Where's your bandit, where's Robbie?"

"Here!" Robbie yelled as he jumped out from nowhere and locked Meredith's right wrist into Matthew's empty cuff.

She stared in shock. Literally in shock. Words could not be formed, movement was not an option. All she could do was stare at the handcuffs mounted on their wrists.

"Robbie," she finally choked out, "_what_ did you do?"

Robbie's hand flew to his forehead as he laughed hysterically. Then he ran away.

"Robbie!" Meredith yelled as she took off after him, only falling short when the weight on her wrist caused her to crash backwards onto the floor with Matthew coming down on top of her. "Robbie!" she growled, the disdain evident in her voice. "Up. Get up," she directed Matthew.

After a few attempts, and several fumbles, Meredith and Matthew were once again standing on solid ground.

"Let's play a game!" Matthew said, going towards a mess of something piled on the floor- and dragging Meredith with him.

"No, Matthew, we have to find your brother," Meredith announced- dragging Matthew back her way.

"Nooo! Game!" he whined and pulled her again.

Meredith let out an aggravated sigh and yanked her wrist, sending Matthew directly in front of her. "Matthew," she said calmly through gritted teeth, "you're kind of connected to me right now. We can't play games, okay, because I have to find your brother."

_And wring his neck,_ she silently added to herself.

"But I want to play games," Matthew told her in a small voice.

Meredith would have actually felt bad for the kid, if he wasn't currently her new accessory, but the fact was they were stuck together. _Stuck_ together.

This was not helping in her liking of kids.

"I'll play a game with you," Robbie said, bouncing into the room as if nothing had happened.

Meredith's arms dropped, her back hunched, and she let out an enervated sigh. "Robbie," she breathed.

"Okay," Matthew said cheerfully and followed his brother, pulling Meredith along behind him.

"Aunt Meredith?"

"Yeah, Beth?" she responded just as she landed on the floor next to the boys.

"Leah's diaper needs to be changed."

"What?" Meredith said in disbelief. "I can- I…" She held up her and Matthew's adjoined wrists. "I'm kind of tied up here."

"But she smells _really_ bad."

"Fine," Meredith sighed. "Come on Matthew."

"No way!" Matthew shrieked.

"It'll take two minutes. Then you... or _we_ I guess… can come back and play your game," she said as she stood up.

"Un un," Matthew tugged her back to the floor. "That's gross!"

Meredith stood again and yanked the boy to his feet. "Yeah, I know, but it has to get done. All you have to do is stand there. Only one hand is cuffed, plug your nose with the other."

Matthew wouldn't budge so Meredith wrapped her arm around him and drug him over to the couch. "Beth, can you at least get her bag for me?" she asked and laid Leah down.

Beth nodded and took off into the hall, returning in moments with the bag in hand.

"Okay," Meredith started as she accepted it from Beth, "What do I do first?"

"You never done this before?" Matthew asked in a nasally voice due to his nose being held.

"Well, not the icky kind." Meredith defended. "I changed her earlier, but it was nothing like- like this."

"Take off the diaper," Beth instructed as she kept her distance at the other end of the couch where Robbie quickly joined her.

Meredith slowly unhinged the sides and pealed it away.

"Ewwww!" Matthew squawked as all four of them pulled away and Leah giggled.

"Nasty!" Robbie chimed in.

"Okay," Meredith choked through gusts of air, "That is not helping."

"Get rid of that thing!" Matthew hollered.

As Meredith went to take away the dirty diaper, Matthew screamed and pulled his arm away, taking Meredith with him.

"Calm down," Meredith told him as she pulled the diaper away.

"Ahh!" Matthew cried again as he jerked his hand again, causing Meredith to almost loose grip on the diaper.

"Matthew," she hissed, "will you calm down?"

"No way, I'm outta here!" Matthew rose to his feet, yanked his arm away with great force, and ran away- making Meredith fall over flat on her back.

But he kept running.

And Meredith stayed put.

"Ow," Meredith groaned and sat up. She looked down at her bruising wrist and saw the handcuff still attached. But Matthew wasn't. "Matthew, how'd you do that?" she called out.

""I dunno," he replied from around the corner of the doorframe.

"Meredith, the smell," Robbie reminded her as he wined and bounced in place.

She quickly finished up with Leah, Beth instructing her along the way, and headed to the nearest trashcan to discard of the unwanted _contents. _

She washed her hands, pouring half the bottle of soap on her wrist, and realized it was not going to come off. She was stuck.

"At least I'm not stuck to them," she said to herself.

A bellow of hollering and screams and cries erupted from the living room, followed by what sounded like a bucket of Legos being turned over, and more screams.

Meredith sighed.

Maybe she should have found a second set of handcuffs and clapped them both to the railing when she had the chance.

* * *

**I was going to wait and post this on Thursday for a Grey's treat, but I think you've all waiting long enough. Lol. So it's a Monday treat instead, because we all know Monday's are not that awesome :) I'm glad you all are enjoying the story and thank you everyone for the reviews, I do appreciate it greatly! :) More would be wonderful ;)  
**


	14. Chapter 14

"Leah, please calm down," Meredith practically begged as the screaming child continued to wail in her ear.

It didn't help.

Leah continued to scream as Meredith tried to bounce her while she paced around the living room.

Nothing had helped.

She tried to put Leah down, but that just made her scream more.

"What is wrong with you," Meredith questioned even though she knew she wasn't going to get an answer.

She would have been sympathetic towards the child. She probably would have been in tears herself at the small girl's hysterics. She would be if she didn't feel as though her eardrums were about to burst.

"Matthew, give me my doll back!" Beth yelled as she chased her younger brother around the couch. "Matthew!"

"You can't get me!" the boy chanted.

"Matthew, give her the doll back," Meredith tried to intervene.

It didn't work.

The kids took off out the room, hardly even fazed by Leah's current outburst.

"Please, Leah," Meredith continued to beg.

"Matthew!" She heard Beth holler yet again.

Meredith let out a gasp of air, and then with a screaming Leah attached to her hip, she left in search of the abducted doll.

She didn't get far.

She was stopped in her tracks by the sight before her. "Um, Robbie," she began, "What are you doing?"

"Coloring," he smiled up at Meredith, never taking the navy blue crayon away from the wall.

"Coloring," Meredith echoed only half surprised. She closed her eyes and sighed before muttering, "whatever," and walking away.

_I'll just add it to the list._

"You're going to hurt her!" was what Meredith heard as soon as she entered the kitchen.

Well, what she could hear, anyway, over Leah's crying.

"Matthew, stop! You're going to hurt her!"

Leah screamed louder.

"I'm not going to hurt her!" Matthew called out as he continued to tease his sister with her doll. "I'm just going to give her a haircut!"

"Noooo!" Beth began to cry as she once again chased after her brother.

"Enough!" Meredith yelled. She turned Leah's head away from her face so she could actually think for a moment without the shrieking directly in her ear. "Seriously, enough you guys. I can't…" she trailed off and decided just to handle it herself.

Meredith walked over to where the children had stopped and grabbed the doll from Matthew's hand, giving it back to Beth.

Beth hugged it to her tightly as Matthew skipped out the door, off to find something else to do and not caring that his game was over.

Having two children quieter only relieved a portion of the stress, however.

"Beth," Meredith turned to the girl, "What is wrong with your sister?"

She shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well, there has to be something wrong. Nobody screams-" She was cut off by another high pitched wail. "Nobody screams like this for no reason," she finished.

"Give me the green!" She heard from the hall.

"No, I'm usin' the green!" followed.

Meredith groaned.

Beth followed her like a tail as the two of them went to the hall where both boys hovered over a now very colorful wall.

"Can you two not fight for a while?" she asked them.

"He took my crayon!"

"Not uh. I was usin' it first!"

"You took it from me first!"

"Not uh! I had-"

"Guys!" Meredith screamed. "Isn't there anything else you can do? You know, something that won't drive me nuts," she grumbled.

"I don't want to color anyone," one of the boys said, throwing his crayon to the ground.

"Let's go play Lego's!"

"Yeah!"

"No!" Meredith screamed again as she remembered she had already spent a good thirty minutes searching for and picking up all the pieces they had dumped earlier.

She didn't want to do that again.

"I, um… I have a better idea," she lied.

And they stared.

"What is it?" one of them finally asked.

"It's ah… Um, well." She had to think, and so had to do it quick.

It would have been easier without the constant screaming, though.

"Oh." Her epiphany finally hit, "Come on, come with me."

The three followed as Meredith went back into the kitchen and handed over a very reluctant Leah to a very resistant Beth before going into the laundry room and emerging with two of her light blue scrub shirts.

"Here," she said as she pulled one of the shirts over a boys head. "You two can play surgeons, okay?"

"Really?" The newly clothed boy asked as he examined the shirt.

"Yeah," Meredith replied as she donned the other boy's attire as well. "You can pretend to do surgery or something."

"Cool," they both said and took off running.

"I said _pretend_ surgery, remember!" she called after them, "Don't hurt each other!"

"Aunt Meredith."

She turned around to Beth, who was holding Leah as far away as possible.

"Right," Meredith muttered, taking Leah back.

"What'd you do to her?" Beth asked, giggling slightly.

"Me?" she responded in disbelief. "I didn't do anything."

"Why is she still screaming?" Beth covered her ears.

"I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with her."

She sighed.

Leah had been upset for quite a while and she could not figure out why. She had been quiet for most of the day, only saying something here and there, but all in all she had been a nice, peaceful baby.

Until the moment she suddenly screamed bloody murder and hadn't stopped.

She sighed, again.

"I think I need to call Derek," she mumbled to herself.

Meredith grabbed the house phone from its charger and dialed his memorable number.

But it went right to voicemail.

"Ass," she grumbled at the recording before hanging up.

She thought about her options for a moment before deciding to call Izzie. Out of everyone, she would know the most about kids anyway.

But it went to voicemail.

"Oh come on." Meredith groaned.

The next possible option on her list was one she wished she didn't have to use.

But she dialed the number.

"Kids haven't drove you to an asylum yet?"

Of course she would answer…

"Cristina…" She signed yet again, trying to adjust the screaming Leah.

"Whoa, what is going on over there? Having a brawl?"

"Cristina." Meredith was already loosing patience with her so-called person.

"Oh, Mer, calm down," Cristina said in a cunning tone.

"This is insane. This is… I'm in a freaking madhouse, Cristina. Where the hell is Derek?"

"Surgery."

Meredith let out a frustrated huff of air. _Right_. She had forgotten for a moment why he wasn't with her currently.

"Mer, make this quick. I have Pre-Op in ten minutes."

"This is so unfair," she stated, "Everyone is in freaking surgery and I'm here, surrounded by the Children of the Corn."

Cristina laughed again.

"This is NOT funny."

"What's so funny?" Meredith heard come from Cristina's end of the line.

"Is that Izzie? Put her on!" Meredith asked, praying she was right.

"Mer!" came the overly bouncy voice a moment later. "I was just about to call you back! I was in surgery, what's up? And what's with all the noise?"

Meredith could practically hear her smiling through the phone.

"Izzie," Meredith said halfway between the verge of tears and anger. "She won't. Stop. Screaming."

"Who won't? Wait." Izzie paused for a moment and Meredith could hear Cristina muttering something to her. "He what?!" Izzie responded to Cristina before turning her conversation back to Meredith. "I can not believe you left you alone with all those kids! You poor girl!"

"Izzie!" Meredith yelled, causing Leah's own howling to turn to loud whimpers before once again becoming deafening screams. "We're past the whole Derek abandonment thing. Today has been… Whatever. I just need to… I need to be able to think, and I can't do that with her screaming. Now, how do I get her to stop?"

"I don't know," Izzie replied.

Meredith's eyes went wide. "What do you mean you don't know? You know things about kids. I need her to stop screaming!"

"Meredith, there could be numerous different things upsetting her. I know some possibilities, but I don't know what's wrong with her." She could hear Izzie sigh through the phone. "Did you feed her?"

"Yeah. Well, I mean, the kids all ate a few hours ago. Do you think she's hungry or something?" Meredith went to open the refrigerator, but stopped once Izzie responded.

"I doubt it. She wouldn't be screaming that intensely if she was just hungry." Izzie thought for a moment. "Is she changed? Did she have a nap?"

"Yeah, both of those," Meredith said as she tried to blow her bangs out of her face and switch Leah to her other arm. "I can't even set her down without her screaming louder."

"Well, wait. Hold on," Izzie said, "how old is she?"

"I don't know. She's… a baby."

"Yeah, Mer, gonna need a little more then that…"

"I know, hang on." Meredith rolled her eyes. She walked to the hall where Beth had migrated to. " Beth, how old is Leah?" she asked.

"Mommy said she's 17," Beth told her as she collected her crayons the boys had used on the wall, "but I don't know because my brothers are only four, so I don't know how she could be 17."

"17?" Meredith repeated.

"Months, Mer," Came Izzie's voice.

Meredith's shoulders dropped at her statement. "I knew that," she said in half-truth.

"Aunt Meredith, can I color on the wall?" Beth asked.

She knew it had to be fixed now anyway. "Whatever," came her answer before walking back into the kitchen.

"If she's only 17 months, she may be teething," Izzie told her.

"Teething?" she questioned.

"Kids teeth for a long time. It's probably a molar, that's why it's so painful. Give her something to chew on, okay?"

"Okay," Meredith copied.

"Tell her to put some whisky on the gums. That'll do it." She heard Cristina call from a distance.

"Don't listen to her," Izzie countered.

"I know you have some there, Mer," Cristina pressed on.

Meredith would have laughed, too. Normally. "Izzie, tell her shut up."

And she did.

"Now what am I supposed to give her?" She opened a drawer that contained silverware and grabbed a spoon.

"She'll need something cold. Preferably something soft, too."

Meredith put the spoon back. "What about, like, fruit or something?"

"Fruit would be good, but it may be too difficult for her. You don't want her to end up choking on it or something. What were you thinking about?"

"I don't know. Meredith looked around and opened the fridge door. "There's kiwi."

"That'll be too sour for her."

"Oh, wait, I see an apricot." Meredith grabbed the fruit, but quickly put it back. "Never mind, it's kind of rotted."

"I had apricots on the list. Meredith, did you not do the list? It was your turn to go grocery shopping," Izzie announced.

Meredith slammed the door shut a little harder then she intended to. "Been a little busy!" she called into the receiver.

"Right," Izzie continued, "Okay. Almost forgot. You're forgiven." Meredith could hear the smile again.

"Iz…" Meredith directed her back to the situation.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Let me think for a minute."

"Kind of in hurry here," Meredith said just before Leah decided to shriek louder then she ever thought possible.

Meredith cringed, and did the one thing she never thought of.

Shushing her.

Meredith held the phone on her shoulder and gently placed her finger on the child's mouth to quiet her. What happened, though, she hadn't expected.

Leah pulled Meredith's finger inside her mouth, and refused to let go.

"Leah!" Meredith shrieked this time, trying to remove her finger, but that only made Leah bite down.

Hard.

But she was quiet.

"Oh, okay, I got it, Mer." Izzie chirped.

"Um, Izzie, I have a slight problem." Meredith told her, still trying to get her finger released.

"What's wrong now? Wait. It's quiet. Why is it quiet there?" Izzie asked. "Oh my god. Meredith Grey, what did you do to that child?!" she finished in a panic.

_"Me?"_ Meredith asked in shock. "Why does everyone keep blaming me? I didn't do anything. This kid decided to use my finger as a human chew toy; not my fault."

"Well take your finger out of her mouth."

Meredith closed her eyes. "Thank you, Izzie," she sarcastically replied. "Don't you think I would have done that if possible? She won't let me."

"Okay, well give her a wet washcloth, or dishrag. Give her that instead, that should work." Izzie said.

"Great suggestion," Meredith started, "You have any others on how I'm suppose to do that with the kid in one arm, gnawing on my finger while I balance the phone?" she asked. "Not to mention the freaking handcuff still attached that she keeps shoving her foot through..." she finished with a ramble.

"Mer, just put her down or some- Wait, did you say handcuff?"

Meredith sighed, "never mind..."

Meredith heard some shuffling, followed by something that sounded close to- what she would say- an elbow being jabbed into your side followed by an "ow". Then more shuffling.

"Hi, Mer" came the snide voice of Cristina. "Go ahead."

She sighed again. "I don't know what you're talking about, Cristina. Put Izzie back on."

"Oh, I don't think so," Cristina laughed. "Spill."

"There's nothing to tell," Meredith replied. She placed Leah on the counter and maneuvered the handcuff so Leah's foot was detached.

Unlike her finger.

"If handcuffs are involved, Mer, then there's something to tell."

"Cristina! Give it back!" Izzie came in through the background.

"Go frost something, Barbie," Cristina snapped at her. "I know something's up, Mer," she said into the receiver.

"It's not a big deal," she shook her head even though no one could see.

More shuffling occurred.

"Is she still upset, Mer?" came Izzie's voice once again.

"I wouldn't know. She's still latched on to my finger."

"Okay, do what I said then and give her something soft and wet."

"Hold on," Meredith said as she sat the phone down. She found a clean washcloth from a drawer and dampened it- all well keeping Leah from falling off the counter, or ripping her appendage off.

"Okay, Leah," she said to the tear filled child. "You have to do this now." Meredith stood in front of her, ready to make the trade. "On three, okay?"

She didn't even blink.

Meredith counted to three and with all the force she could, she pulled her finger from Leah's mouth.

Leah broke out in a heart-wrenching scream.

Meredith quickly handed the wet cloth over, positioned it in front of her mouth. Leah accepted and the screams once again stopped.

"Oh, thank god," she muttered.

"Mer!" she heard from the speaker of the phone. She gabbed the handset and pressed her ear to it.

"Yeah?"

"How'd it go?"

Meredith took in Leah's disheveled appearance. With the pad of her thumb she wiped the girl's tears away, then rested her hand on her tiny leg. Leah leaned into Meredith, and it almost made her heart melt.

"I think we're good," Meredith told her softly.

"You're okay now then?" Izzie asked for conformation, bringing Meredith back to the situation of what really just happened.

"Well, besides that fact that my finger is now swollen, and my wrist is bruised, I feel like my ears are bleeding, and my eyes hurt from the headache that's developed- I'm just great."

"Meredith, I don't really know what the problem is." Izzie told her.

"You're kidding me, right?" she asked. "I just freaking had to call you before the neighbors called the cops. They probably think I was beating them or something over here."

"It can't be that bad. So you had one mishap with the baby. I'm jealous you got to spend the day with them. Kids are great." Izzie beamed.

"Well I'm jealous you got to go to work today. Trade lives with me. You can come watch them until Derek's done." Meredith said, not even joking a bit.

"Wish I could, Mer, but I have to go scrub in. I'm with Mark today, back-to-back surgeries," she unintentionally gloated.

"Whatever." Meredith said in disdain.

"You want Cristina again?"

She didn't even pretend to think about it. "No. Just hang up."

"You're okay now?"

Meredith looked at Leah, then turned to her quiet kitchen.

Everything was quiet.

"Yeah, I think we're okay now."

"Okay, great. All right I'll see you later- crap, Cristina's coming. Talk to you later, Mer."

The line went dead.

Meredith replaced the phone to its charger and chuckled at her friends' antics. She knew Cristina would press on about the whole handcuff things, and if she told the truth she'd never be able to live it down. Being outsmarted by a four-year-old would not be something that would just go away if Cristina got word of it.

Leah let out a small hiccup and stuck her arms out to Meredith while the washcloth dangled from her mouth.

Meredith let the girl rest her head on her chest while she rubbed small circles on her back, basking in the peace around them.

Finally it was silent.

Everywhere.

_Wait_… Meredith thought.

It was silent everywhere.

"It's quiet in here," she said to herself. "Why is it quiet in here?"

The one thing Meredith had learned today, if nothing else at all, that when it's quiet it's never a good thing. It means someone is doing something they know they shouldn't be doing.

Silence means trouble.

Meredith scooped up Leah and carried her to the hall where Beth was.

"Why is it quiet in here?" she asked her.

Beth looked away from here coloring, but didn't respond.

"Where are your brothers?"

Beth shrugged, "I don't know."

Meredith stood stock frozen, momentarily unable to move- or blink. "Crap," she whispered suddenly before she took off in a bolt through the house. "Boys!" she called out.

It wasn't shocking when she didn't get an answer.

"This is so not good," she muttered.

Meredith checked the living room first. Then the den.

Nothing.

She turned around and headed back, moving towards the direction of the staircase and not noticing Beth looking on from the opposite end of the hallway.

"Boys?" Meredith called up the stairs.

Nothing.

"Come on guys!" she glanced to Beth, who once again shrugged. Sighing, Meredith ascended the stairs, with Leah clutching to her neck.

Countless thoughts filled Meredith's head about what they could possibly be up to. Her first instinct was leading her to the bathroom. That's where she figured they could do the most damage. With all the products and water sources the bathroom contained, it seemed like the prefect setting for the boys to cause an unnatural disaster.

As Meredith crept down the dimly lit hallway, it felt almost horror movie-esk. With the wind from the storm howling outside, and the eerie creaking of the floorboards underneath her feet, it felt very much like someone was about to jump out in front of her at any moment.

And with knowing how those kids were, nothing would surprise her.

Leah hiccupped, and Meredith jumped. She gave the kid a look and sighed, regaining her composure before heading further down the hall. "Guys?" she called in a light whisper.

Meredith was just about to the bathroom when she heard a soft commotion coming from the slightly open door before it.

Izzie's door.

She backed up a bit and pushed the door open more, revealing a pitch-dark room.

And the commotion stopped.

Meredith flicked the light switch on, illuminating two small, scrub clad kids.

"What are you two doing?"

The boys stood with evident guilt on their faces, and a stuffed bear in there hands.

A beheaded stuffed bear.

_Izzie's_ beheaded stuffed bear.

"What did you guys do?!" She grabbed the bear's body from one of their hands.

"We were playing surgeons."

"Teddy!" Leah cheered through the washcloth as she reached for it.

"Leah, Teddy's broken," Meredith told her and held it up.

"Po Teddy." Leah sympathetically stroked its arm.

"We were goin' to fix it," the boy still holding the head told her.

"How?"

He held up a desk stapler.

Meredith scrunched up her nose at the though. "Are you serious?" They just looked at her as she stared at them. "Okay, this is insane. Come on." She ushered the boys out of the bedroom.

"But we want to play surgeons!" One of the boys looked over his shoulder and said to her.

"Surgeons fix people," Meredith told him, "they don't behead them. Now move it."

"We were gonna fix it," the other boy spoke up.

"But you removed its head- its stitched on head. You two dismembered the thing."

"But we were gonna fix it!"

Meredith decided to stop trying to make her point. The conversation was going in circles and she was running tired. "Just go downstairs," exhaustedly she said to them as they all descended the staircase.

One of the boys jumped over the last step before turning around and asking Meredith, "Can we still play surgeons?"

Meredith looked at the teddy bear's head still in his small hands. _See how much Izzie likes kids now, _she thought. "I don't think that's a good idea," she told them.

"Please!" they chorused together.

"We like surgery!"

"It's fun!"

Meredith stood Leah on the floor and stuck her hand out. "Give me the head."

The boys obliged.

"Now can you guys go play a game or something?"

"Fine," they said again.

"And can you take your sister with you?"

They both nodded, took Leah by the hands, and solemnly walked off to the living room in search of a new game that was as fun as surgery. Leah looked back once, and smiled showing Meredith the dishcloth still hanging from her mouth.

Meredith chuckled lightly at Leah before looking at the two halves of the bear she was now holding. "How am I suppose to fix this?" she mumbled.

"Can we have dinner?"

Her head shot up as she looked over to Beth who was now sitting on the floor, he crayons packed neatly away in their case.

"Sure," she told her even though she knew there was nothing to make them.

"Can we have peanut butter and jelly?"

She thought for a moment before she realized that they did actually have everything to make that.

All three ingredients.

"Sure," Meredith said again. "Why don't you go in with your siblings and I'll go make them, okay?"

"Okay," Beth told her as she stood and took her crayons under her arm and left.

Meredith watched her until she had turned the corner and couldn't be seen anymore before walking once again into the kitchen to make the kids food.

She sat the bear on the table, deciding to deal with it later, and rubbed her temps for a minute, trying to relieve her tension headache. Meredith grabbed the bread from on top of the fridge and decided to make them their dinner before one of them decided to barge in and give her an aneurysm.

"He is so dead," she said to herself. "I'm freaking stuck here, with kids…" She slammed the jelly on the counter. " I don't do kids." She slammed down the peanut butter. "I should be in surgery, not Derek. It's his freaking family…. His family… But he's _my_ family… My freaking family stuck me with the freaking kids. Of course he did, my mother would have chosen surgery over me. She always did. Why wouldn't…"

_Wait…_

Meredith quickly finished making the sandwiches, quietly, and hurried to the living room where she found the kids sitting around flipping through the channels on the television.

"I got it," she said aloud.

They all looked at her.

"You guys want to see surgery?" she asked.

The boys nodded.

"Here," she said as she placed two of the sandwiches next to them and handed the other two to Beth. "You guys can watch surgery." Meredith smiled as she grabbed one of her mother's surgical tapes from the movie cabinet and popped it into the VCR. "You can watch a _real_ surgery on a _real_ person." She felt the need to emphasize her discovery.

"Cool!" All three kids cheered.

The boys fell to their stomachs and started eating as soon as the tape began.

Thrilled that it had reached their expatiations as much as hers, Meredith smiled to herself and sat on the couch with the girls.

Beth stared at the screen, fixated just as much as her brothers, while Leah climbed into Meredith's lap and nibbled on the tiny piece of sandwich she'd been given.

"Gross! Oh, that is so awesome!"

Meredith shook her head as she laughed at how excited they were. They had forgotten completely about being destructive, and loud, and obnoxious and instead were completely content watching her mother perform surgery.

As Meredith felt a weight of stress leave her, she tried incredibly hard not to think about what would have happened had she just put the tape in to begin with.

* * *

**Hope you liked the chapter! I should tell you all that the next chapter is actually the last one. Well, the last one and then an epilogue. But the epilogue is really the first chapter of the sequel (that I will _eventually_ write) but the sequel really has nothing to do with this story... lol. I'm already 500 words into chapter 15 so hopefully I'll have it up soon. It just depends on how life goes, I guess. lol. Anyway, thanks so much for the reviews, they always brighten my day :) More would be wonderful! **


	15. Chapter 15

"You are in so much trouble."

"I know."

"This place is a disaster."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Seriously, Derek…"

"I had nothing to do with it._ I_ wasn't even here. It was your kids, Kathy, remember?"

"Ah, two reasons you're in trouble then. You made her handle them, _and_ they destroyed the place."

"I knew she could handle it," Derek defended. "You had no reason to be worried."

"Oh, I was never worried for their sake, Derek," Kathy said as she crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, "only for yours." She added with a smile.

"Right," Derek nodded as he looked down at his feet and mirrored his sister's body language.

"I knew as soon as you called to tell me about being paged that they'd take over this place."

"They're a lot more sly then I remember them being," Derek smiled.

A soft snore interrupted their conversation, ending it there. They both turned to look back at the sight they had walked in on only moments before.

The boys were piled together on the floor; sound asleep in front of the TV that was still running the Ellis Grey surgery, on mute. Beth was on one side of the couch, also asleep, with her head resting on Meredith's thigh. And Meredith, who took up the rest of the couch, had her head on a pillow and an arm securely around a slumbering Leah. She was also the one who was snoring.

Shocking.

Derek smiled again as he stared at her.

"You really love her, don't you?"

Derek turned to his sister, who was looking at him.

"I've never seen you this happy before," Kathy told him before continuing, "I mean, I've seen you happy before, but nothing like this."

He didn't even try to hold back his smile. He did that whenever Meredith was even mentioned. "Yeah," was all he could say though.

"Yeah, well, good luck with the aftermath." Kathy grinned as she made her way into the living room and lifted one of the twins into her arms. He stirred slightly before opening his eyes and quickly shutting them again.

"Hi, Mommy," he mumbled into Kathy's neck.

"Hi, Robbie," she replied, "did you have a good time today?"

"Un huh," he yawned, "we played games, and went to the park, and Aunt Meredith let us played surgeons."

"Oh really," Kathy said as their wardrobe suddenly made sense.

The boy yawned again. "We goed now?"

"Yes we're going now."

Derek lifted Beth from Meredith's side as Kathy took her son out to their awaiting rental car. He noticed Meredith tense as the chill from her human blanket was removed and with one hand pulled a real blanket from the back of the couch on top of her.

Beth stirred slightly from the movement and wrapped her arms around Derek's neck, but remained asleep. As he took her out to the car, Kathy went back in to retrieve her other boy.

After several trips back and forth, carrying both children and luggage, Derek and Kathleen found themselves standing over their last obstacle.

"Look at the grip she has around Leah." Kathy said as she leaned in slightly over Meredith.

"I know," Derek signed, "and Mer's not a light sleeper. Completely dead weight."

Kathy chuckled softly as she stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Do you really need her back?" Derek playfully asked his sister.

"Yeah, I kind of like her," she laughed again. "And I don't think her father would be too happy if I didn't bring her back."

"Right," Derek smiled as he nodded,

"I don't know though, I doubt you're going to be able to get her away without waking Meredith."

"Well you won't let me keep her," he chuckled, "If Mer does wake, she'll just fall back to sleep anyway. I'll probably have to carry her up to bed."

Kathy chuckled softly. "Alright, then you can pry her away."

"Thanks," Derek responded with a humorous glare.

"Just… lift her arm away."

They both leaned in slightly as Derek did what he was told. Instead of allowing him to raise her arm, though, Meredith only tightened her grip around the child.

"Well that didn't work."

"I'm not surprised. Try getting up at 5am," Derek sighed. "It takes at least fifteen minutes to convince her to let go."

"Why don't you just wake her up? You agreed that she'd just wake up anyway. At least I'd get my daughter back that way."

They both shared a laugh as Derek nodded his agreement. As he knelt to the ground, however, he noticed he wasn't staring at two sleeping forms. "Hi, Leah," he smiled softly to the infant.

Leah grumbled something completely incoherent before stretching both her little arms straight out. "Ups!" she said. "Me ups!"

Derek laughed again as he grabbed Leah from under her shoulders and slid her from Meredith's grasp. Leah wrapped herself around Derek's neck as he watched Meredith pull her arm tight against her body, trying to fill the cold, empty space.

"Me!" Leah screeched into Derek's ear when she noticed her mother standing at her side.

"Someone's talkative." Kathy smiled as she took Leah from her brother. "Hi little Leah."

Leah ignored her mom and instead began to play with the necklace that sat on her neck.

"Did you have fun today?" she asked the tot.

Leah responded with a bunch of gibberish nonsense before ending with, "quishy bye-bye."

Kathy nodded. "Well, okay," she laughed, not having a clue to whatever Leah had just said. "We should get going, though," she told Derek before turning back to Leah. "Want to say bye-bye to your Uncle Derek?"

Leah replied with gibberish once more and put her head on her mother's shoulder.

"I'll take what I can get." Derek smiled as he kissed Leah on her forehead, "Bye Leah."

She waved slightly as Kathy turned to face Derek. "Alight. Bye, baby brother," Kathy smirked as she wrapped her free arm around him. "And thanks for everything. Tell Meredith thanks, too. You know, considering you did ditch her and all."

"Hey," Derek replied, feigning hurt.

Kathy giggled. "Bye, Derek."

As Kathy walked out the door, Derek felt an overwhelming sadness wash over. He stood in the hallway and looked around at the leftover toys his sister decided to leave behind- for next time.

Next time.

He was saddened that he couldn't be there with them today. He missed his family a great deal living on the opposite side of the country. Every moment he got to spend with them he considered precious.

Derek slid his hands into his pockets and solemnly walked back into the living room.

And he couldn't help the smile that grew when he looked down as his sleeping girlfriend.

He always smiled even at the thought of her; she was more precious to him than anything else. And he was more than proud of her for taking control today and not hiding away.

"Meredith," he called as he stood over her.

She didn't move. Maybe he really was going to have to carry her to bed.

"Mer," he said again as he bent down to her level. He reached out and tucked a bit of her falling hair behind her ear and her eyes slowly opened. "Hey," he spoke softly.

She closed her eyes and stretched in place before sighing and cracking her eyelids open yet again. "Hi," she choked out. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you to bed," he smiled.

Meredith lifted her head and looked at the room, finally realizing where she was. "I'm on the couch."

"Yeah," Derek chuckled. "Everyone's gone."

And then she remembered why she was on the couch; suddenly she felt wide-awake.

"Stop laughing," she snapped. Which only made Derek laugh again. "You are not allowed to laugh. You're in trouble," she told him as she sat up more.

"Mer…"

"No. Derek. You're in so much trouble."

"Meredith…"

"You're not getting away with this."

Derek sighed again. "Mer, come on."

Meredith chucked the blanket off and got to her feet, standing on the couch, making sure to tower over him. "Do you have any idea what I've been through today?" she began her rant, "My house is broken, my brain has been fried, and I'm so freaking tired it's insane. I had more energy doing my 48 hour shifts than I did chasing those kids all day."

Derek smirked. He knew he should keep his mouth shut, but he found her adorable when she was angry. "You have enough energy to yell at me," he said. "Why don't we use that energy elsewhere?" he added as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ohhh," she groaned as she climbed from the couch and shoved her finger in his face. "I don't think so, Loverboy. You don't get rewarded for stranding me here alone so you can just get that out of your head right now."

"It's always in my head," he said seriously as he looked at her with his dreamy eyes.

Normally she would have fallen for his look. He knew it was a weakness. But right now she was wired only to yell. "Today has been hell. Do you realize that?" she asked him as she looked away.

"Mer, were they really that bad? I mean seriously?"

"Yes!" she yelled, almost as if it were a natural instinct. "Well. No… They weren't _awful_ but they weren't great, either. It's hard. I mean really, really hard," she told him as she felt herself calming a bit, "I don't know what I'm doing. I was never taught this stuff. You were. You were, and you left me here. Alone."

"Meredith. You did fine with them."

He could almost feel her rolling her eyes at him. "How would you know?"

"Because I saw the kids when I came home. Everyone one of them still had all their fingers and toes. They were breathing perfectly fine, and resting peacefully." Derek took a step closer, wanting to fill the gap between them, wanting to fill his void of longing for his family. "Meredith, you did fine, just as I thought you would." He wrapped his arms around her and was grateful when he felt her arms embrace him in return. "I know your mom wasn't around much, and you feel clueless with all this stuff, I get it, I do… but…" He shrugged as his head shook back and fourth. "You're a natural."

"Seriously?" She eyed him as if he were crazy, causing him to chuckle yet again.

"Alright, you may not have the social skills part with kids down yet, but the caring thing you do." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger for a few extra moments before pulling away slightly. "You are not your mother," he told her. "You can never be your mother because you have a caring instinct that she never did."

"She was a doctor," Meredith argued, "of course she cared."

"She cared for her patients, she was programmed for that, but she somehow misplaced the family gene."

"Well, I definitely didn't inherit anything family related from my father, so I couldn't possibly…"

"You got it from you," he told her, the statement forcing her to finally look into the eyes she tried to avoid. "You are _not _your parents," he told her again, trying to drill it in her mind.

Meredith stared into his eyes. She always felt safe when she looked into his eyes, but this time she felt something more. She felt something unlike never before.

She felt home.

"Okay," she finally said.

"Okay," he repeated with a small smile. "Mer?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it safe to ask about the cuffs now?" He tried hard not to laugh, failing when her eyes widened and she pulled her wrist into eyesight.

"You've got some carpentry to do," she told him with a glare.

He laughed again. "What happened?"

She pulled away from him completely. "I told you today was torture." She dangled the cuff for him to see again.

He chuckled again.

She gave him a shove. "Stop laughing!" she said.

"I'm sorry, Mer." He steadied his balance. "But… Did they like… lock you up somewhere?" He asked, the humor still evident in his voice.

"We couldn't find the key," she told him, still glaring.

Derek laughed as he stepped away and over to a cabinet in the living room. He returned seconds later holding up a safety pin. "You're avoiding the question, Mer."

"I'm not… avoiding."

"Then how did you end up cuffed?" He pulled a reluctant Meredith towards him and made her lift her wrist to him. "Gift for me?" He smirked again.

She tried to pull away, but he could tell she was holding back a smile. "No," was all she said as he jiggled the safety pin in the lock and removed the cuffs from her wrist.

He held them up with a smile.

"Whatever," she grumbled.

"Come on," he wined, "tell me."

"Tell you what?" she sarcastically asked. "How I was almost beaten to death by a stroller? Or how I was cornered by my sister at the park? Or did you just want to tell _me_ how I suddenly became "aunt" Meredith to those kids, huh?"

"Well…" Derek stood back a little dumbfounded. "I was just kind of curious about the handcuffs, but…"

"They colored all over my wall," she blurted.

Derek sighed. "I'll repaint it," he told her.

"And they beheaded Izzie's teddy bear."

"We're surgeons," he smirked, trying hard not to find that funny. "It can be fixed."

"And I probably have a perforated eardrum from all the wailing Leah did."

"Oh Mer," he responded in a coddling tone as he kissed her ear. "Let me make it up to you." He kissed her again.

"You're not getting sex," she told him.

He moved lower, kissing her neck.

"You just can't kiss your way out of this, you know."

"I know." He kissed her neck again.

"And you can't just… You can't…" Her voice faded away as his lips moved to the opposite side of her neck.

She leaned into him, but her senses kicked in moments later and she pushed him away. "Derek, no."

He pulled her hair ever so slightly, extending her neck, and he kissed her again. "No?"

"Oh…" Meredith moaned as her eyelids suddenly became heavy.

"Mer," he breathed into her ear.

And then she snapped out of it. "Derek. No."

"Mer," he breathed again, sounding more defeated then anything.

"No, Derek. I'm mad at you. You don't get sex when I'm mad at you."

Derek smirked as he bent his head and kissed her; unsurprised when he felt her go weak in the knees, and unsurprised when she deepened it.

"I'm not after sex," he told her when they finally broke apart for air, "I just want to make it up to you. I'll do anything you want."

She kissed him this time. "You'll repaint my wall?"

He kissed her in return. "Saturday when I'm off."

"You'll... let me pick the next movie we see?"

Derek chuckled before kissing her again. "Don't I always give in anyway when we go?"

Meredith giggled softly. "True," she nodded.

It was the first time she had giggled since they had started this conversation and he hadn't realized how much he had missed it until now. He loved the sound of her giggle. He loved it even more when he was the cause that brought it on. "I wanted to be here with you today."

"I know," she sighed. "I guess… I mean, I know I'm not mad _at_ you. I'm just mad about what you did; what you had to do."

"I get that," he told her with a sigh. "I'm sorry I left." He leaned in and hovered his lips in front of hers. "I would have loved staying here with you and those kids," he said as he pulled back a bit. "But I will make it up to you, I promise."

Derek was slightly surprised when she kissed him, but he was not about to protest by any means.

"I just hope I didn't do any damage to them," Meredith said as they pulled apart.

"Meredith, they're fine. And you should be, too." Derek told her. "You were wonderful with them this morning when I was here."

"Yeah, but that was when you were here. Then you left me remember?" she said it as a statement while she crossed her arms, creating a barrier. "We were fine until you left. Then I had to be in charge. Then I had to make sure their limbs remained intact and that they didn't fall in a well or something."

"What?" Derek questioned, laughing, but she ignored him and continued on.

"I'm not good with all that."

"You're fine with all that," he tried to reassure her.

"You don't know that." She looked to the floor and he could tell she had a bit of shame on her face. He honestly felt bad for her. He knew she was wonderful with the kids, that she was a natural despite how she had been raised. What he wasn't sure of, though, was how he was suppose to get his point across and make her see that she really was amazing.

But before another word could be said, they both turned suddenly when they heard the floor creak in the entranceway followed by an, "oh."

"Oh, Good. You're up," Kathy said as she shifted her weight, holding a child in her arms.

"Kathy…" Derek said slightly confused.

"Sorry to just barge in, but the door was still unlocked and I didn't want to ring the bell incase you were sleeping… But you're awake, so… Good."

Meredith stared at the women before her. The almost-rambling women who looked a hundred times more laid back and down to earth as she was now wearing a navy blue tracksuit and flats and had her hair pulled up in a ponytail.

She still looked fashionable, of course, but definitely more of a comfortable style than Meredith had seen her in earlier in the day.

"We only got a few blocks away before Matty woke up. He wouldn't stop crying because he didn't get to say goodbye to his Aunt Meredith."

"Oh, Matthew." Meredith moved across the space and took a willing Matthew from his mother. She held him up so they were face to face and she could still see the tear marks down his cheeks. "Don't cry, buddy," she told him.

"I goin' miss you," the boy replied in a whisper as he looked down at his hands.

"I'm going to miss you, too." Meredith matched the smile that crossed his face at her statement. "I know I live far away from you, but you can call me if you want to. And you can talk to me that way."

"Really?" Matthew smiled brightly.

Meredith nodded. "Yeah, really. And If I don't answer, you can leave a message even. That way I can call you back."

"Okay!" Matthew said now completely ecstatic. "Come on, Mommy!" He turned in Meredith's arms to face his mother. "Let's go home so I can call Aunt Meredith!"

Kathy smiled as well, grateful that her little boy was no longer upset. "Thanks Meredith," she said softly as she took the boy from her.

Meredith smiled gently in return. "Yeah," she squeaked.

"Hey, what about me?" Derek pouted.

Matthew laughed. "Bye, Uncle Derek."

"No hug?" he continued to pout as he extended his arms.

Matthew smiled and reached his own arms out.

"Oh I get it," Derek said, pretending to be mad at Matthew, "You'll go to Aunt Meredith but I have to come to you. I see how it is."

Matthew laughed again as he wrapped his arms around Derek. "She's pretty," Matthew told him shyly.

He knew Meredith was blushing without having to even look at her. "Excellent point," he told his nephew before turning to Meredith and winking at her, causing her to blush even more.

"Ok, ready to go, Matthew?" Kathy asked as she snuggled her son against her.

"Yup!" he said cheerfully.

"Alright. Maybe we'll at least get to the hotel now," Kathy laughed.

Derek laughed in return. "Drive safe," he told her and kissed her cheek and ruffled Matthew's hair.

"Bye, guys," Kathy said as she once again walked to the door.

"Bye, Aunt Meredith!" Matthew waved over Kathy's shoulder. "I call you later!"

Meredith smiled and waved.

As soon as the door was shut, Meredith felt his arms wrap around her from behind and his chin make contact with her shoulder. "I won't say I told you so," he whispered into her ear.

"Derek…" she sighed.

"Meredith, you can't tell me now that you don't believe me. If that wasn't proof…"

"They probably only liked me because I let them get away with things."

"Mer," Derek chuckled. "You don't let me get away with things. I still like you," he smiled, and laughed even harder when she elbowed him and wiggled from his grasp. "Ow." He smiled as he rubbed his rib cage, making sure to make a big show out of it.

"I barely touched you, you big baby."

Derek continued to rub his ribs. "Admit it, Meredith."

"Admit what? It was a tiny little nudge," she said.

"No," Derek responded. "Admit that you are not a failure. That you are no where near being a failure," he stepped forward, "and admit that those kids loved you."

She crossed her arms.

"Meredith, admit it." He stepped forward again. She took a step back, and he laughed. "Mer…" He wrapped his arms around her, forcing her to stay put.

She sighed, shifted her weight, and said just above a whisper, "Fine."

Derek smiled, relieved that he could convince her. Finally. "Meredith, say the words."

She sighed again. "Fine. I'm not a failure."

"And…"

"And what?" Meredith asked. "I said it, now leave me alone."

Derek laughed. "Mer." He kissed her quick. "Come on."

"Fine. I'm not a failure and… I um. I'm okay… with kids," she said. "There. Satisfied?"

He laughed again. "You're wonderful with kids, and yes, I'm satisfied. With that anyway." He kissed her neck and ran his hands tightly down her sides.

"Hey, what did I say about being mad at you and the whole no sex thing?"

"I thought we established you're not mat at _me_, only at the situation. And we did have a fight."

"And I'm mad."

"But not at me," he said with a smirk. "Make up sex," he added with his brows raised.

Meredith felt her shoulders drop. She knew she had lost the battle. He won.

He always won.

"I hate you," she sighed shaking her head.

"Yeah, right," Derek said as he leaned in and kissed her.

"No… Seriously…" She moaned and ran her hands through his hair.

"Seriously," he moaned in return.

"Seriously… Enjoy the couch." Meredith smirked against his lips before pulling away and walking towards the staircase, leaving a rather stunned- and turned on- Derek standing in the hallway.

He was in a daze. It took him a moment to realize what she said- and that she actually left him.

Left him standing there.

"Mer…" he whimpered, unable to move.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked back at him.

He looked like a sad little puppy.

Meredith cocked her head. "Well if you're going to cry about it…"

"I'm not crying," he defended before allowing a smile to play at his lips. "Begging, yes, but not crying."

She couldn't help but laugh. She really didn't want him on the couch; she wanted him wrapped around her. She loved sharing a bed with him and always left lousy whenever one of them had to stay a night at the hospital, but she wasn't about to cave. He had to suffer at least a little bit.

"I know you can't sleep without me," he smirked. He smirked as if he knew that was exactly her debate- then smiled sweetly. "I know I can't sleep without you," he told her seriously.

Meredith thought for a moment before allowing a tight smile to stretch her face and she climbed a few steps. "Well I know another little guy I can call up. I don't need you. I bet he'd come cuddle with his Aunt Meredith." She continued to climb the stairs, smirking at him.

Derek was yet again in disbelief. His anxiety quickly faded away as he realized that was her way of revoking his sentence on the couch. He laughed before yelling, "I don't think so!" and ran after her.

Meredith laughed in return as she bolted up the rest of the stairs- with him trailing after.

He caught her at the top and wrapped his arms around her. "You're mine." He told her before kissing her deep once again.

Meredith sighed as they pulled away from each other. "Only yours," she confirmed. "Thank you, Derek."

"You are amazing," he said in return before kissing her deeply.

They worked their way towards the bedroom and Meredith couldn't help but feel a hundred times lighter. Even though the day had been stressful and covered obstacle after obstacle, she was glad she went through it. And she was glad she had Derek to calm her in the end.

They smiled to each other once more and he kissed her again. They broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other, trying to get their needed air.

Meredith closed her eyes and shifted her forehead to his lips. "It was a good memory day," she whispered softly before looking into his smiling eyes and kissing him again.

**

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**OK. Well that's the end :) I hope you all liked it and thanks so much for your reviews. More would be incredibly awesome. haha. Sorry the update took so long but it's nearing the end of the semester and unfortunately I had to live in reality for a while. The epilogue is rather short so hopefully I'll have it up next weekend, but no guarantees- due to finals and all that wonderful stuff. Thanks again for all your support, though. I have several other stories in the works and a few oneshots, so more will come :) **

**Once again, reviews would would be awesome! **


	16. Epilogue

**2 Weeks Later**

Meredith rolled over in bed for what felt like the thousandth time. As the light sun started to seep through the closed blinds on the windows, she knew her alarm would be going off very soon.

Which would have been fine had she slept at all during the night.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Meredith scratched her arm, rolled over onto her stomach and shoved her head under her pillow, determined to catch at least a few minutes of sleep.

She sighed again and turned on her side, not being able to stand the position on her stomach. She lifted her pillow slightly to get a good glimpse at the boy in her bed.

His back was to her, but she could tell he was still out like a light.

"Come on," she growled to herself in a whisper. She rolled again onto her back and scratched her cheek before dropping her arms to the sides. Just as she pulled the pillow back over her face, an annoying beeping sound took over her ears.

She groaned at the irritating sound and pulled the pillow tighter to her ears as well as her eyes. Just as she was about to yell at Derek to kill the invader, the noise stopped and was followed by a "hello."

As the weight on the bed shifted, Meredith peeked from her hiding spot to see Derek sitting over the side with his cell phone pressed to his ear. He was speaking in hushed tones, assuming he thought she was still asleep.

"No, it's fine… Not too early…" Derek said as he lifted himself from the bed and moved towards the dresser to get ready for the day. "We have to be up in a few minutes anyway," he continued.

Meredith, on the other hand, was not so willing to get up just yet. She felt so lousy from not sleeping that she was taking any remaining moments of shut-eye that she could.

Yet again she shoved her head under her pillow as she scratched her neck and refused to allow the day to come.

"Oh. That's too bad," Derek sighed into the phone. "No, we're fine."

The alarm started to buzz, causing Derek to turn towards the noise and found himself watching just in time to see a pillow go flying from the bed and his annoyed girlfriend crawling across it to silence the device.

Through her wild and messed up hair that was layering her face, Meredith could see him smiling at her.

"No, I had them when I was nine." Derek turned back to his dresser, continuing on with his conversation. "You remember. I was home for a week."

Meredith grumbled from her position still on the bed. Her eyes refused to still open, and her blankets felt too nice to leave. She was, however, propped up against the headboard which felt like enough progress for the time being. Derek slammed his drawer and her eyes shot open in a startle.

"Yes, I'm sure she has… We're doctors… it's kind of a given," Derek continued.

Meredith leaned forward, suddenly feeling more awake, as she figured he was talking about her to whoever was on the phone.

"Alright. Well thanks for the heads up, I hope he feels better soon." Derek glanced back at Meredith and saw the look of concern. He held up a finger, letting her know he'd be off in a minute.

Meredith ground her teeth together as she scratched harshly against her sleeve covered arm.

"I love you, too. Tell mom hello," Derek said. "Okay, I'll talk to you later." Derek ended his called and began to undress to get ready for the day. "That was Kathy," he said to Meredith.

"Oh," was all she could get out. She continued to scratch at her arm and quickly moved to the side of her neck.

"Yeah," Derek said once his shirt was over his head. "Apparently Matthew was up all night…"

Meredith had stopped listening. She couldn't take the itching anymore, it was driving her insane… She pulled her sleeve up and was surprised when she saw she was covered in tiny red bumps.

"…He came down with the chicken pox." Derek informed her. "Kathy wanted to give us a heads up, but I told her we were fine."

And suddenly he had her attention once again. "Wait, he what?!" she practically yelled.

Derek looked at her fully for the first time and saw the rash across her face clear as day. "Oh, Mer…" he sighed.

Meredith whimpered and fell back against the headboard. "Great", she grumbled as her hand automatically continued to scratch her wrist.

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**Well, that's it. I know it's a lot shorter, but remember this is the start of a whole new story. Just a way to get get an idea of where the sequel will be going. lol. I have no idea when it'll be written/posted, but eventually it'll be up. Thanks so much to everyone who read, and everyone who reviewed- I appreciate them both. Take care, and Merry Christmas Eve! :)**


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